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Page last updated at 13:54 GMT, Monday, 15 December 2008

Laotian rock rat is rediscovered

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The Laotian rock rat (Laonastes aenigmamus) has been rediscovered. It was thought the breed had become extinct millions of years ago.

Researchers say the rock rat is the sole survivor of an ancient group of rodents understood to have died out 11 million years ago, and then recorded again in 2005.

The nocturnal rodent lives in remote forests in Laos.

It is one of more than 1,000 species new to science which have been recorded in South-East Asia's Greater Mekong region over the past decade, says the conservation group WWF, which supplied this video.

IN PICTURES: Greater Mekong's species spectacle

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