Latest news with #SubalpineWoollyRat
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
A Mysterious Rat Vanished Into the Mountains in 1989. It Just Showed Its Face for the First Time Since.
Here's what you'll learn about when you read this story. Mallomys istapantap is the largest (and also least studied) species of woolly rat in New Guinea, and it has finally been documented in photos and on video. This species was first documented in 1989, but in their attempts to further study the creature, researchers had little to go off of other than a handful of museum specimens. The knowledge preserved by local Indigenous people suggests that only sightings of the M. istapantap by scientists—and not the species itself—are rare. Not all rats are sewer or subway denizens skittering away with someone's slice of pizza (and then going viral for it). In the remote mountain rainforests of Papua New Guinea, there is a creature that has managed to elude humans for decades—a giant rat that hides in the leafy shadows and has never known a discarded pizza crust. Meet Mallomys istapantap, the Subalpine Woolly Rat of New Guinea. This behemoth of a rodent can easily grow to be the size of a house cat and reach lengths of 85 centimeters (or 33 inches). Several different species of woolly rat have been found in the region, but M. istapantap is easily the largest, and the least studied. It is also one of the largest rodents in the world, next to species such as pacarenas and capybaras. Now, zoologist František Vejmělka has become the first to document this mysterious nocturnal rodent in the wild, catching the creature on both photo and video as it scurries down a tree branch at just past sunset. 'It seems that the rarity of the Subalpine Woolly Rat in museum collections and the limited knowledge on its ecology do not reflect its true rarity in nature, but are rather connected only to the remoteness of the habitats it occupies and to the fact that it cannot be recorded by standard methods of small rodent trapping,' Vejmělka said in a study recently published in the journal Mammalia. Isolated island habitats can lead to the evolution of some exotic and unusual fauna. Along with outsize rats, New Guinea is home to birds of paradise, iridescent snakes, fanged frogs, grunting fish, tree kangaroos, and several rare species of echidna that exist nowhere else on Earth. Mallomys is a whole genus endemic to the island, and consists of four species of woolly rat. The other species have slightly better documentation, but M. istapantap was first described in 1989 and only visually documented through an illustration in 1995. Until now, the only way to study it up close has been through a handful of museum specimens. M. istapantap is an herbivore that eats mostly ferns and lives in mossy forests or grasslands near the mountains. It is mostly terrestrial—though still able to climb trees if it needs to escape predators—and its thick and shaggy fur keeps it from feeling the chill of high elevations. The species name 'istapantap' is Melanesian Pidgin (spoken by the local Indigenous people) and means 'living above' or 'it is on the top.' This knowledge of the creature's existence shows that it is probably glimpsed regularly among the roots and leaves by locals. Hunters who helped Vejmělka collect samples seemed to know areas where he was most likely to find M. istapantap, though population numbers are still unknown. In addition to having local hunters as his guides, Vejmělka set up a camera trap on a fallen log over a stream in a dense forest on Mount Wilhelm—the highest mountain in New Guinea. The camera ran for eight nights until a male M. istapantap, eyes shining in the darkness, was filmed crawling across the log. Woolly rat species that live in lower elevations have longer tails, while those in higher elevations have shorter tails—an axiom that also applies to the white-tipped tail of M. istapantap. They have dark, brownish-grayish fur with white undersides and pale feet, and females are slightly larger than males. Vejmělka also discovered a color variation never seen before in the species (or any rodent species in the Hydromyini group of rodents, for that matter), which features a streak of yellow on the chest that he thinks is either genetic or staining from sebaceous glands. (This might be related to territorial behavior.) 'The results presented here show primarily the persisting importance of conducting field expeditions in the present, particularly to understudied regions of the Earth,' said Vejmělka. 'The combination of modern and traditional detection methods […] resulted in the first specimen records of this remarkable rodent in over 30 years.' You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
The Irish Sun
21-05-2025
- Science
- The Irish Sun
Massive ‘giant woolly RAT' triple the size of regular rodent found as enormous creatures dubbed ‘largest in the world'
A RARE species of giant woolly rat has been documented in photos and video footage for the first time ever. The elusive, nocturnal Subalpine Woolly Rat, or Mallomys istapantap, can be found high up in the mountains of New Guinea. Advertisement 3 The species was last recorded 30 years ago and had never before been photographed until now Credit: František Vejmělka 3 Its nocturnal habits - and the inaccessibility of its habitat - have made it extremely difficult to observe in the wild Credit: František Vejmělka New Guinean Woolly rats are some of the largest murine rodents in the world - and are triple the size of the average rodent in the UK or US. Despite its total length of 85cm, 8cm-long paws, and body weight of roughly 2kg - the giant woolly rat has evaded researchers for decades. The species was last recorded 30 years ago and had never before been photographed until now. František Vejmělka, a Czech doctoral candidate from the Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences and the University of South Bohemia, is the first person to scientifically document the Subalpine Woolly Rat in the wild. Advertisement READ MORE ON WILDLIFE With help from several local tribes, Vejmělka was able to document the rare species while on a six-month expedition from the base to the summit of Mount Wilhelm - the highest peak in Papua New Guinea at 4,509m high. "It's astonishing that such a large and striking animal has remained so poorly studied," said Vejmělka. "How much more is there to discover about the biodiversity of tropical mountains?" The creatures are typically found in regions up to 3,700metres high. Advertisement Most read in Science Its nocturnal habits - and the inaccessibility of its habitat - have made it extremely difficult to observe in the wild. And until now, the Subalpine Woolly Rat was known to science only from a handful of museum specimens. Vejmělka documentation means scientists now have biometric measurements of the creatures. They also have knowledge other aspects of its lifestyle, such as the animal's diet, parasites that affect them, and activity patterns. Advertisement The shaggy-furred rat climbs trees at night, hides in underground burrows or tree canopies during the day, and feeds exclusively on plant matter. "If it weren't for the indigenous hunters who accompanied me in the mountains and helped me locate the animals," said Vejmělka. "I would never have been able to collect this data." 3 With help from several local tribes, Vejmělka was able to document the rare species Credit: František Vejmělka
Scottish Sun
21-05-2025
- Science
- Scottish Sun
Massive ‘giant woolly RAT' triple the size of regular rodent found as enormous creatures dubbed ‘largest in the world'
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A RARE species of giant woolly rat has been documented in photos and video footage for the first time ever. The elusive, nocturnal Subalpine Woolly Rat, or Mallomys istapantap, can be found high up in the mountains of New Guinea. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 3 The species was last recorded 30 years ago and had never before been photographed until now Credit: František Vejmělka 3 Its nocturnal habits - and the inaccessibility of its habitat - have made it extremely difficult to observe in the wild Credit: František Vejmělka New Guinean Woolly rats are some of the largest murine rodents in the world - and are triple the size of the average rodent in the UK or US. Despite its total length of 85cm, 8cm-long paws, and body weight of roughly 2kg - the giant woolly rat has evaded researchers for decades. The species was last recorded 30 years ago and had never before been photographed until now. František Vejmělka, a Czech doctoral candidate from the Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences and the University of South Bohemia, is the first person to scientifically document the Subalpine Woolly Rat in the wild. With help from several local tribes, Vejmělka was able to document the rare species while on a six-month expedition from the base to the summit of Mount Wilhelm - the highest peak in Papua New Guinea at 4,509m high. "It's astonishing that such a large and striking animal has remained so poorly studied," said Vejmělka. "How much more is there to discover about the biodiversity of tropical mountains?" The creatures are typically found in regions up to 3,700metres high. Its nocturnal habits - and the inaccessibility of its habitat - have made it extremely difficult to observe in the wild. And until now, the Subalpine Woolly Rat was known to science only from a handful of museum specimens. Vejmělka documentation means scientists now have biometric measurements of the creatures. They also have knowledge other aspects of its lifestyle, such as the animal's diet, parasites that affect them, and activity patterns. The shaggy-furred rat climbs trees at night, hides in underground burrows or tree canopies during the day, and feeds exclusively on plant matter. "If it weren't for the indigenous hunters who accompanied me in the mountains and helped me locate the animals," said Vejmělka. "I would never have been able to collect this data."
The Sun
21-05-2025
- Science
- The Sun
Massive ‘giant woolly RAT' triple the size of regular rodent found as enormous creatures dubbed ‘largest in the world'
A RARE species of giant woolly rat has been documented in photos and video footage for the first time ever. The elusive, nocturnal Subalpine Woolly Rat, or Mallomys istapantap, can be found high up in the mountains of New Guinea. 3 3 New Guinean Woolly rats are some of the largest murine rodents in the world - and are triple the size of the average rodent in the UK or US. Despite its total length of 85cm, 8cm-long paws, and body weight of roughly 2kg - the giant woolly rat has evaded researchers for decades. The species was last recorded 30 years ago and had never before been photographed until now. František Vejmělka, a Czech doctoral candidate from the Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences and the University of South Bohemia, is the first person to scientifically document the Subalpine Woolly Rat in the wild. With help from several local tribes, Vejmělka was able to document the rare species while on a six-month expedition from the base to the summit of Mount Wilhelm - the highest peak in Papua New Guinea at 4,509m high. "It's astonishing that such a large and striking animal has remained so poorly studied," said Vejmělka. "How much more is there to discover about the biodiversity of tropical mountains?" The creatures are typically found in regions up to 3,700metres high. Its nocturnal habits - and the inaccessibility of its habitat - have made it extremely difficult to observe in the wild. And until now, the Subalpine Woolly Rat was known to science only from a handful of museum specimens. Vejmělka documentation means scientists now have biometric measurements of the creatures. They also have knowledge other aspects of its lifestyle, such as the animal's diet, parasites that affect them, and activity patterns. The shaggy-furred rat climbs trees at night, hides in underground burrows or tree canopies during the day, and feeds exclusively on plant matter. "If it weren't for the indigenous hunters who accompanied me in the mountains and helped me locate the animals," said Vejmělka. "I would never have been able to collect this data." 3
