New rat in Pacific

- A new rat species discovered on the Manus Island in the Pacific. Although the rat is quite large and was not discovered earlier, he lives according to scientists already on the island thousands of years, which belongs to Papua New Guinea.

The rat has been named Rattus detentus, from the Latin for keeping captive. That is a reference to the asylum seekers Australia sends to Manus Island while their asylum procedure and the fact that the rodent all this time managed to remain undetected.

The residents of Manus suspected that there must exist a large rodent, because they found notes on bite marks.,, I searched for thirty years in this rat, '' said researcher Tim Flannery told The Guardian.

The beast weighs about 1.1 kilograms, but is not the biggest rat species in the world. That honor goes to the woolly Bosavirat, a species that is also found in Papua New Guinea and weighs 1.5 kilos.

The rat has been named Rattus detentus, from the Latin for keeping captive. That is a reference to the asylum seekers Australia sends to Manus Island while their asylum procedure and the fact that the rodent all this time managed to remain undetected.

The residents of Manus suspected that there must exist a large rodent, because they found notes on bite marks.,, I searched for thirty years in this rat, '' said researcher Tim Flannery told The Guardian.

The beast weighs about 1.1 kilograms, but is not the biggest rat species in the world. That honor goes to the woolly Bosavirat, a species that is also found in Papua New Guinea and weighs 1.5 kilos.

『新種ネズミ発見 パプアニューギニア』the guardian https://t.co/3ApuPzYB56 アドミラルティ諸島のマヌス島で、クマネズミ属の新種(Rattus detentus)発見。体重は500gほどで、同諸島内で最大。島の歴史にちなんで、種小名は「拘留者」。

— Dupla Japan (@DuplaJapan) April 14, 2016