The Laotian Rock Rat
Scientists found a strange rodent for sale in a Laos market. It turned out to belong to a family thought to have died out 11 million years ago.
What was reported
In 1996, conservation researchers in Laos noticed an unfamiliar rodent being sold for food in a market in the town of Thakhek: a dark, squirrel-like animal with a long, hairy tail, called kha-nyou by local people.
In 2005, scientists described it as a new species. A year later, other scientists realised it belonged to a family of rodents known only from fossils, thought to have died out about 11 million years ago.
Explanations offered
The Laotian rock rat is a 'living fossil', a survivor of an ancient line that disappeared from the fossil record. It was filmed alive for the first time in 2006. It lives among the limestone rocks of central Laos, and local people had known it all along.
- When
- Described in 2005
- Where
- Khammouane Province, Laos
- Witnesses
- Market traders, then scientists
- Status
- Confirmed
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.