From Palaeoblog, with different links there:
‘Extinct’ Laotian Rock Rat Captured
The first images of a live specimen of a small, furry animal once believed to have gone extinct more than 11 million years ago have been captured during a Southeast Asian expedition led by a retired Florida State University researcher.
From the FSU press release:
The remarkable video and photos shot by David Redfield, a professor emeritus of FSU’s science education faculty, and Thai wildlife biologist Uthai Treesucon are being hailed as historic images documenting a true “living fossil,” the Laotian rock rat.
Redfield’s video shows a docile, squirrel-sized animal covered with dark, dense fur and bearing a long tail that’s not as bushy as that of a typical squirrel.
Perhaps the most striking observation is how the animal walks — like a duck.
Clearly not adapted to climbing trees, the rock rat exhibits a duck-like waddle with its hind feet splayed out at an angle to its body.
Known as kha-nyou (pronounced “ga-noo”) in Lao villages near its habitat, the animal was first described scientifically in the April 2005.
Identified as a member of an entirely new family of mammals, the rock rat made news around the world.
It gained international attention again on March 10 of this year when scientists published a paper in Science magazine re-identifying the animal as a “living fossil” whose last remaining relatives went extinct 11 million years ago.
The Laotian rock rat so called for its only known habitat — limestone outcroppings in Central Laos — and the appearance of the animal’s head and face, which sport long whiskers and beady eyes like those of a rat.
To view photographs and video of the Laotian rock rat, visit RockRat.
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