New Animals Found in 'Lost World'

A 3-lb rat from New Guinea is probably new to nature.

An expedition to a pristine stretch of cloud forest in western New Guinea has discovered two species believed to be new to science, including a giant rodent five times the size of a common city rat.

Kristofer Helgen, a scientist with the Smithsonian Institution, says the new 3-pound Mallomys giant rat has no fear of humans, and frequently visited researchers in their camp.

Also found was a pygmy possum — one of the world’s smallest marsupials.

Scientists have described the Foja Mountains in Indonesia’s easternmost Papua province as a virtual lost world.

An earlier expedition to its foggy forests in 2005 by scientists from Conservation International and the Indonesia Institute of Science uncovered dozens of new plants and animals.

“It’s comforting to know that there is a place on Earth so isolated that it remains the absolute realm of wild nature,” said Bruce Beehler, who led both expeditions.

Photo: Bruce M. Beehler - Conservation International Digg This