Lost World of Fanged Frogs and Giant Rats

pilsner.urquell writes "40 previously unidentified species were discovered inside the crater of an extinct volcano on Papua New Guinea. The finds include a hairy caterpillar, an iridescent beetle, a striped possum, and what may be the world's largest rat — the size of a 'well-fed cat,' and showing no fear of man. The extinct volcano Mount Bosavi last erupted more than 200,000 years ago." There are also an audio interview with the expedition leader and a gallery with 15 photos of the new species.

Re:Is it possible

[Anonymous Coward]

Viruses tend to rely critically on their hosts' genome, so there really isn't any danger of a new lethal human virus: we are too different. Bacteria, on the other hand, is undoubtedly a living organism, so it's quite possible it is robust enough to nail our immune system. OTOH, it hasn't been exposed to any antibiotics, so infections would probably be highly treatable.

BBC has a video of the rat

[blau]

Here... [bbc.co.uk]

Re:Those guys have a pair...

[metlin]

I believe that it's originally from Scott Adam's piece - "Life will NOT be like Star Trek" [troutman.org].

The original goes like this:

Sex with Aliens

According to Star Trek, there are many alien races populated with creatures who would like to have sex with humans. This would open up a lot of anatomical possibilities, but imagine the confusion. It's hard enough to have sex with human beings, much less humanoids. One wrong move and you're suddenly transported naked to the Gamma Quadrant to stand trial for who-knows-what. This could only add to performance anxiety. You would never be quite sure what moves would be sensual and what moves would be a galactic-sized mistake.

Me Trying to Have Sex with an Alien

Me: May I touch that?

Alien: That is not an erogenous zone. It is a separate corporeal being that has been attached to my body for six hundred years.

Me: It's cute. I wonder if it would let me have sex with it.

Alien: That's exactly what I said six hundred years ago.

Re:Pristine Ecosystems

[Anonymous Coward]

Prions, parasites, fungi, radiation, autoimmune, genetic, many kinds of chemicals. I probably missed a few.

Have a nice day.

Re:Forget the rats and frogs!

[douglasdoughty]

It may not be exactly what you are thinking... at least it wasn't what I was thinking
http://www.greenexpander.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/new-species-tree-kangaroo.jpg [greenexpander.com]