September 07, 2009 12:41pmSCIENTISTS have found a lost world of new species on an island in Papua New Guinea, including a giant rat, a frog with fangs and a fish that grunts.
A BBC Natural History Unit found the rat trapped in an extinct volcano - Mt Bosavi - along with up to 40 undiscovered species.
The team were filming a series on Mt Bosavi called Lost Land of the Volcano, due to be screened this week in the UK.
At up to a metre in length, the rat has been named the Bosavi woolly rat and is said to be “as big as a cat”.
The specimen trapped by the team weighed almost 1.5kg.
Living almost a kilometre down in the volcano, the rat has thick fur and teeth which suggest a vegetarian diet.
'This is one of the world's largest rats,” biologist Dr Kristofer Helgen told the Daily Mail.
"It is a true rat, related to the same kind you find in the city sewers, but a heck of a lot bigger."
The fish has been named the henamo grunter, due to the distinctive noise it makes with its swim bladder.
Among the other finds, scientist also list an “extremely hairy” caterpillar, at least 16 new species of frog – including the fanged example – 20 new varieties of insects and spiders and possibly a new species of bat.
The team from London Zoo and Oxford University claim the volcano and the surrounding land is virtually as it was since the volcano erupted 200,000 years ago.
"It was mind-blowing to be there,” expedition leader Dr George McGavin told The Sun.
“It is time we pulled our fingers out and decided these habitats are worth saving."
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,26037522-23109,00.html
See also: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/sep/07/discovery-species-papua-new-guinea
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