The Laotian rock rat, which is very much alive, belongs to a rodent family that scientists had assumed had vanished 11 million years ago, says an international research team that examined DNA evidence. The family resemblance was also suggested from fossil evidence last year.
ALIVE AND SNIFFING. An image from the first photo session with a living Laotian rock rat, taken in 2006, comes from retired Florida State University professor David Redfield, who, with biologist Uthai Treesucon, set out on a personal quest to find the living animal.
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