Rompe Posted September 27, 2009 Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,555501,00.html First we have Ants that get turned into "Zombies" by trees, then we have studies on Zombies coming back to life and taking over the world, now we have Frogs with Fangs, Odd gheckos and snakes...along with rodents that are over 3ft long! (for those who have seen the movie Princess Bride...an "ROUS") Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klingan Posted September 27, 2009 Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 Crayz stuff. That rodent is a lot bigger than my cat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artimi Posted September 27, 2009 Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 cute rodent, but my cat is the same size I think. he is now down to 30 pounds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rompe Posted September 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 I think that rodent could have eatten all the cats that I used to own its so big. Freaky thing is too, they are guessing that this was the rodents first encounter with humans at all, they were saying that it walked right up to them as if it was domesticated and it was very friendly! I am just wondering how "friendly" a frog with fangs could be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldrail Posted September 28, 2009 Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 Sorry, I'm blowing the whistle. That's a photoshopped image. Look closely at the boundary of the rat image - it sticks out just a little too much - not a natural colour transition and you can can just make out the border of the clip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sylla Posted September 29, 2009 Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 (edited) Here is another pic of the Bosavi woolly rat (Mallomys spp.). This rodent is classified as a rat (ie, one of the 500+ members of the muridae and related families); it is big (reportedly up to 1.4 kg) but not so much in comparison with the really colossal rodents, like the famous capybara, who may grow up to 50 Kg (the World record reported by the WAZA is 105.4 kg). Edited September 29, 2009 by sylla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldrail Posted September 29, 2009 Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 Oh come on. Anyone can see that's a glove puppet. Sheesh... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sylla Posted September 29, 2009 Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 (edited) Here is a nice Video (and a nice text explanation too) on this mammal. Now, I perfectly understand that there is more than enough technology around there to fabricate virtually any pic and any video and even to add some wings to the rodent and the researchers if required; what I can't understand is what rationale would be behind such potential forgery. The finding might be relevant indeed for mastozoologists, but it is just moderately curious for the lay public; after all, this isn't even the biggest available example of murinae (rats). Besides, this didn't come from a cheap tabloid column; in principle, BBC's authority seems to me more than enough to back up this story.... especially because we are dealing here with 100% verifiable data. Edited September 29, 2009 by sylla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldrail Posted September 29, 2009 Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 I wonder if rats have a sense of humour? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sylla Posted September 29, 2009 Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 (edited) Unsurprisingly, no. As currently defined, humor requires some of the highest of the higher cortical brain functions, particularly anticipation and abstraction (ie, executive functions from the frontal lobes) plus a minimum of cultural frame: it is a relatively recent human acquisition. There seems to be some rudiments of humor among some higher primates and maybe even other social mammals (but not rats); the best currently available evolutionary explanation is that it serves as kind of red-code cancellation (ie, "the previous alarm was not justified after all"). As other mammals, some rats seems to have some kind of "laughter" as a sonic expression of joy, actually imperceptible for the unaided human ear. Edited September 29, 2009 by sylla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldrail Posted September 30, 2009 Report Share Posted September 30, 2009 Yes but rats wee on things just like us. Surely they find that funny? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rompe Posted September 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2009 If rats did have a sence of humor, I wonder what kind of "kick" they would get out of the mass freak-outs that some people do in Underground Transport (subways) do when they see one scamper across the floor. Even if it is photoshopped, still an intresting find...especially with the other species that they have found. It is quite the find! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldrail Posted October 1, 2009 Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 We've got a considerable rat population in Swindon. You do need a sense of humour to live here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rompe Posted October 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2009 We've got a considerable rat population in Swindon. You do need a sense of humour to live here. I remember seeing Rats down in Mexico and in the New York USA subway system...I thought those were big (which they were), but they still do not stack up to this rodent that they found. Still freaky though to see rats roaming the streets that are as big, if not bigger, than chihuahua dogs. It is freaky. Certain places around Berlin can have some pretty big rats too. Especially if you go into the sewer systems at night! Nothing ever wrong with having a Good sense of humor! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldrail Posted October 4, 2009 Report Share Posted October 4, 2009 I agree. A sense of humour keeps those higher brain functions oiled and turning They do say that (in England at least) you're never more than six feet away from a rat. We now have super-rats (I'm not joking, it was a news item) that are resistant to chemical warfare employed by pest exterminaters. Makes you wonder who's going to have the last laugh doesn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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