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Philippines once home to extinct giant “cloud rats”
The Philippines was once home to three previously unknown species of an unusual group of rodents with fluffy tails known as “giant cloud rats”, according to a new fossil discovery.
All three of the newly discovered species (Crateromys ballik, Carpomys dakal, and Batomys cagayanensis) are thought to be extinct.
The discovery was made by an international team of researchers, including from The Australian National University (ANU).
Buot, as the giant rats are known locally, are only found in the Philippines and typically live in trees and eat leaves, buds and seeds.
Extinct giant cloud rat species ‘twice the size of grey squirrel’ discovered 23/04/2021, 1:01 am
An artist’s impression showing what the three new species of fossil cloud rats might have looked like (Velizar Simeonovski/Field Museum)
Scientists have discovered three new species of giant cloud rats that were twice the size of a grey squirrel and roamed the planet tens of thousands of years ago.
Fossilised remains of the extinct creatures were unearthed from a series of caves in the Philippines.
Based on an analysis of bones and teeth, the researchers said these giant cloud rats were fluffy and had big, bushy tails.
Fossilised remains of the extinct creatures were unearthed from a series of caves in the Philippines.
Based on an analysis of bones and teeth, the researchers said these giant cloud rats were fluffy and had big, bushy tails.
The rodents disappeared a few thousand years ago, raising the possibility that humans may have played a role in their extinction.
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Based on an analysis of bones and teeth, the researchers said these giant cloud rats were fluffy and had big, bushy tails
What are cloud rats?
Also known as cloudrunners, modern-day cloud rats are nocturnal rodents native to Philippines.
Published April 23, 2021, 11:02 PM
Giant cloud rat species weighing about a kilogram once roamed the Philippines based on the discovery of a team of scientists from the University of the Philippines (UP), National Museum of the Philippines (NMP), and the US Field Museum of Natural History.
In a news posted on the UP website on Friday, April 23, the scientists based their findings on the fossilized remains of the three extinct giant cloud rat species, locally known as “buot” or “bugkun,” which were known to have lived thousands of years ago.
The newly recorded fossil species were unearthed from Callao Cave and several adjacent smaller caves in Peñablanca, Cagayan.
Patricia Cabrera
Rats, by and large, aren t terribly popular animals. But while you don t want an infestation of common black rats living in your house, their distant cousins in the Philippines are downright cuddly. These giant cloud rats live in the treetops of misty mountain forests, and they fill an ecological role occupied by squirrels in the US. And, it turns out, we have new evidence that they ve been living in the Philippines for a long time scientists have discovered the fossils of three new species of giant cloud rats that lived alongside ancient humans. Our previous studies have demonstrated that the Philippines has the greatest concentration of unique species of mammals of any country, most of which are small animals, less than half a pound, that live in the tropical forest, Larry Heaney, the Neguanee Curator of Mammals at Chicago s Field Museum and an author of a study in the