The last of the red hot coelacanths has friendly competition

[acroyear]

Just like the coelacanths, another animal family thought to be extinct (for 11 million years) may be alive after all!

In central Laos, they have found an animal that closely resembles the long since extinct "Rat-Squirrel".  Scientists haven't caught a living one yet for fuller analsys, but are still hopeful.

[note on the reporting: it would be unlikely that it could be the same "species" as the 11 million year old ancestors, merely the same family in the same way that we're in the same family as our 11 million year old pre-human ancestors.  That we changed more drastically from them than this specimen did in comparison to its fossil ancestor is mostly irrelevant.]

Comments

[faerydusted1.livejournal.com]

Are you kidding?? Rat-squirrels have been living off the refuse found all over the UMBC campus for decades. They're alive and well, I tell you!

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

"rat-squirrels", not "squirrels living like rats" (which sound like the ones trained for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory that didn't make the cut...) :)