Dwarf cloud rat rediscovered after 112 years

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The greater dwarf cloud rat (Carpomys melanurus) was rediscovered in April 2008 -- 112 years after the first and only time it had ever been seen by scientists. Cloud rats are one of the most spectacular cases of adaptive radiation by mammals anywhere ...
The greater dwarf cloud rat (Carpomys melanurus) was rediscovered in April 2008 -- 112 years after the first and only time it had ever been seen by scientists. Cloud rats are one of the most spectacular cases of adaptive radiation by mammals anywhere in the world, with at least 15 species ranging in size from 2.6 kg to 15 grams, all living only in the Philippines. Photo by Larry Heaney, courtesy of The Field Museum

A team of Filipino and American scientists have rediscovered a highly distinctive mammal -- a greater dwarf cloud rat -- that was last seen 112 years ago. Furthermore, it has never before been discovered in its natural habitat and was thought by some to be extinct.


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