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Mysterious Woolly Rat Caught on Camera for the First Time in 30 Years
11 Oct
Summary
- Mallomys istapantap, the largest woolly rat species in New Guinea, documented for the first time since 1989
- Researchers used a combination of modern and traditional methods to capture the first photos and video of the creature
- Local Indigenous knowledge suggests the rat is regularly seen, despite its rarity in museum collections
In a remarkable rediscovery, the Subalpine Woolly Rat of New Guinea, a massive rodent species that had not been documented in over 30 years, has finally been captured on camera. The creature, known as Mallomys istapantap, is the largest of the woolly rat species found in the remote mountain rainforests of Papua New Guinea.
Measuring up to 85 centimeters (33 inches) in length, M. istapantap is one of the largest rodents in the world. Despite its impressive size, the species had eluded scientific study since it was first described in 1989, with only a handful of museum specimens available for research.
Now, zoologist František Vejmělka has become the first to document the mysterious nocturnal rodent in the wild, capturing it on both photo and video as it scurried down a tree branch at dusk. Vejmělka's success came through a combination of modern camera traps and guidance from local Indigenous hunters, who seemed to regularly encounter the "living above" creature in the dense forests.
The rediscovery of M. istapantap suggests that the species' rarity in museum collections and scientific literature does not reflect its true abundance in nature, but rather the remoteness of its habitat and the challenges of studying such an elusive animal. With this new documentation, researchers hope to learn more about the ecology and behavior of this remarkable giant rat that has managed to evade human observation for so long.
