Lost world of fanged frogs and giant rats discovered in Papua New Guinea

The following correction was printed in the Guardian's Corrections and clarifications column, Friday 11 September 2009 Reporting (below) an expedition's claim to have found many unidentified animal species in a volcano crater, we referred to the "island of Papua New Guinea"; that is the country occupying part of the island of New Guinea.



A lost world populated by fanged frogs, grunting fish and tiny bear-like creatures has been discovered in a remote volcanic crater on the Pacific island of Papua New Guinea.

'A giant woolly rat never before seen by science' Link to this audio A team of scientists from Britain, the United States and Papua New Guinea found more than 40 previously unidentified species when they climbed into the kilometre-deep crater of Mount Bosavi and explored a pristine jungle habitat teeming with life that has evolved in isolation since the volcano last erupted 200,000 years ago. In a remarkably rich haul from just five weeks of exploration, the biologists discovered 16 frogs which have never before been recorded by science, at least three new fish, a new bat and a giant rat, which may turn out to be the biggest in the world.

Lost world of fanged frogs and giant rats discovered in Papua New Guinea