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Remains of Earth's largest rat discovered in cave
Telegraph ^ | 07/26/10 | Bonnie Malkin

Posted on 07/26/2010 7:56:07 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster

Remains of Earth's largest rat discovered in cave

The remains of the largest rat to ever roam the Earth have been discovered in a remote cave in East Timor.

Bonnie Malkin in Sydney

Published: 12:35PM BST 26 Jul 2010

The huge rodent, which died out about 2,000 years ago, was three times as big as its modern cousins and weighed more than 13lbs, about the same as a small dog.

Australian archaeologists from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) found the bones of the giant rat alongside 11 new species of rat, eight of which weighed more than 2lbs.

Dr Ken Aplin, who was part of the team that unearthed the remains, said that the find proved that rats dominated the East Timorese animal kingdom about five million years ago.

"It was rat land with at least 13 species of rodents on an island that isn't that big," he said.

While they may not be popular, rats are vitally important to the world's ecosystems, Dr Aplin said.

"Rodents make up 40 per cent of mammalian diversity worldwide and are a key element of ecosystems, important for processes like soil maintenance and seed dispersal. Maintaining biodiversity among rats is just as important as protecting whales or birds."

On East Timor, which lies north of Australia and east of Indonesia, rats have been on the menu for thousands of years, but recently some species had been threatened by extinction.

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 13lb; easttimor; godsgravesglyphs; rat; rodent
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To: dfwgator

I was going to say...they not only discovered the Kennedy family tree but also the cheeky Kenyan bastards tree?

Oh wait!!! Can I use the word “tree” in reference to BO/BS?


41 posted on 07/26/2010 8:42:10 AM PDT by GatĂșn(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)
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To: Red Badger

Feh, I saw rats the size of dogs in Vietnam, the
ones that used to run over our faces when we were
sleeping were smaller though.


42 posted on 07/26/2010 8:42:19 AM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: allmendream
[ May as well say the bones of a dolphin look (vaguely)like a fish, so a dolphin is a fish. ]

There is a fish called a dolphin.. (eye poke)..

43 posted on 07/26/2010 8:44:15 AM PDT by hosepipe (This propaganda has been edited to include some fully orbed hyperbole....)
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To: hosepipe
LOL! OK, you got me. A dolphin fish IS A FISH. A porpoise, more commonly called a dolphin, is a mammal; although its bones look (vaguely) like a fish.

An opossum or possum is a marsupial, although like a lot of small fuzzy critters - it looks vaguely like a rat.

44 posted on 07/26/2010 8:51:53 AM PDT by allmendream (Income is EARNED not distributed. So how could it be re-distributed?)
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To: hosepipe
A possum can also be a big 'Rat:


45 posted on 07/26/2010 9:09:30 AM PDT by mikrofon (Kenyan variety)
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To: evad

‘now this one is the swineous erectous predatorous family’

How about:
now this one is the swineous erectous pervertous family

Actually, we are devising genus, species, and subspecies for “Wooden AL”, not family.

Gotta go, my gag reflex is acting up.

;-)


46 posted on 07/26/2010 9:35:48 AM PDT by GladesGuru (In a society predicated upon freedom, it is essential to examine principles,)
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To: Lonesome in Massachussets

Ping


47 posted on 07/26/2010 9:45:59 AM PDT by Lonesome in Massachussets (The naked casuistry of the high priests of Warmism would make a Jesuit blush.)
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To: Lonesome in Massachussets

Of course, Mr. Holmes knew about ‘The Giant Rat of Sumatra’.

A close relative, no doubt.
TWB


48 posted on 07/26/2010 10:15:40 AM PDT by TWhiteBear (Islam is an ideology with several elements of Judeo Christian traditions)
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To: mikrofon

LoL..


49 posted on 07/26/2010 10:21:34 AM PDT by hosepipe (This propaganda has been edited to include some fully orbed hyperbole....)
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To: tioga

We have a WINNHA!

THanks for the post, you are not alone on this thought....


50 posted on 07/26/2010 10:29:57 AM PDT by ASOC (Alpha India Alpha Three Tango Alpha)
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To: paulycy

ROUSes?

;-)


51 posted on 07/26/2010 10:54:52 AM PDT by Marie (Obama seems to think that Jerusalem has been the capital of Israel since Camp David, not King David)
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To: GladesGuru

I like it!!


52 posted on 07/26/2010 11:11:17 AM PDT by evad (SHUT IT DOWN!!!)
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To: GladesGuru

I like it!!


53 posted on 07/26/2010 11:11:32 AM PDT by evad (SHUT IT DOWN!!!)
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To: Red Badger

ya beat me to it.. hahahahaha.


54 posted on 07/26/2010 11:46:33 AM PDT by erman (Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy.)
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To: TigerLikesRooster

They found Ted Kennedy’s remains?


55 posted on 07/26/2010 3:28:08 PM PDT by Publius6961 ("We don't want to hear words; we want action and results.")
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To: TigerLikesRooster; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 21twelve; 240B; 24Karet; ...

· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic · subscribe ·

 
Gods
Graves
Glyphs
Sounds like it was the Earth's *second* largest rat. ;') Thanks TLR!

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
 

·Dogpile · Archaeologica · Mirabilis.ca · LiveScience · Biblical Archaeology Society ·
· Discover · Bronze Age Forum · Science Daily · Science News · Eurekalert · PhysOrg ·
· Nat Geographic · Texas AM Anthro News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · Google ·
· Archaeology · The Archaeology Channel · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists ·
· History topic · history keyword · archaeology keyword · paleontology keyword ·
· Science topic · science keyword · Books/Literature topic · pages keyword · ·


56 posted on 07/26/2010 8:17:41 PM PDT by SunkenCiv ("Fools learn from experience. I prefer to learn from the experience of others." -- Otto von Bismarck)
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To: SunkenCiv

I just knew from the title this would be a good one.


57 posted on 07/26/2010 8:46:38 PM PDT by rdl6989 (January 20, 2013- The end of an error.)
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To: TigerLikesRooster
The huge rodent, which died out about 2,000 years ago, was three times as big as its modern cousins and weighed more than 13lbs, about the same as a small dog.

(pssst) News Flash. They didn't die out.

They're in Chicago, along the South Branch of the Chicago River (Between Damen Ave and Western Avenue), and are called, 'River Rats' (duh).

I'm series, you couldn't kill one with a Pellet Rifle (like a Benjamin-Sheridan Blue Streak) which would take out 'normal rats' and pigeons, they were that HUGH -- back 'in the olden days' anyway.(1)

Suckers did look like small dogs too. And we ran like hell from them if they got 'too close'. (Riding our Bikes to the Chicago River was like a weekly, or bi-monthly excursion, as we weren't supposed to go that far away.

(1) Technically, they're 'just' the regular old Norwegian Brown Rat, but like on Steroids. Maybe eating Toxic Waste made them that hugh?? (You wouldn't believe what we'd see floating in the river)

58 posted on 07/27/2010 4:23:25 AM PDT by Condor51 (SAT CONG!)
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To: TigerLikesRooster

Ted Kennedy was buried in East Timor?

Betcha I’m not the first one to think of that.


59 posted on 07/27/2010 2:59:10 PM PDT by Radix ("..Democrats are holding a meeting today to decide whether to overturn the results of the election.")
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