Strange new rodent discovered as Asian snack

[Glen Miyashiro]

Strange new rodent discovered as Asian snack

A weird species of rodent, totally new to science, has been discovered on sale in a southeast Asian food market. The rock rat - or kha-nyou as it is known in Laos - is unlike any rodent seen before by scientists.

“It was for sale on a table next to some vegetables,” says conservation biologist Robert Timmins, “And I knew immediately it was something I had never seen before.” (from New Scientist )

Heh. Wasn't the coelacanth discovered the same way, at a food market? Maybe the biologists need to spend more time shopping and less time in the forest!