Coelacanthine Rodent

[swestrup]

It turns out that the Laotian kha-nyou is known in paleolithic circles as a member of the Diatomyidae, a group of rodents previously thought to have become extinct over 11 million years ago. This will be a great opportunity to see how accurate fossil reconstructions of ancient animals are, now that there are actual specimens to compare against.

Comments

[taxlady.livejournal.com]

Very cool, and kinda cute too.

[swestrup]

I am also inordinately pleased to have gotten to use the word 'Coelacanth' as an adjective!

[taxlady.livejournal.com]

w00t

[sps.livejournal.com]

I don't know about the accuracy of reconstruction thing, 11 megayears is still potentially a long time, so a negative result will not prove much.