Rat-Squirrel Not Extinct After All

This image provided by the Journal Science shows a Laonastes, the only living representative of the otherwise extinct Distomydae, a family of rodents that lived in south Asia and Japan. It has the face of a rat and the tail of a skinny squirrel _ and scientists say this creature discovered living in central Laos is pretty special: It's a species believed to have been extinct for 11 million years. The long-whiskered rodent made international headlines last spring when biologists declared they'd discovered a brand new species, nicknamed the Laotian rock rat. It turns out the little guy isn't new after all, but a rare kind of survivor _ a living member of a species until now known only from fossils. Nor is it a rat. (AP Photo/Mark A. Klinger, Science)

Rat-Squirrel Not Extinct After All

By LAURAN NEERGAARD, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - It has the face of a rat and the tail of a skinny squirrel — and scientists say this creature discovered living in central Laos is pretty special: It's a species believed to have been extinct for 11 million years.

The long-whiskered rodent made international headlines last spring when biologists declared they'd discovered a brand new species, nicknamed the Laotian rock rat.

It turns out the little guy isn't new after all, but a rare kind of survivor: a member of a family until now known only from fossils.

Nor is it a rat. This species, called Diatomyidae, looks more like small squirrels or tree shrews, said paleontologist Mary Dawson of Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

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