Rat-squirrel back after 11-million-year absence

I know this story has nothing to do with Toledo but I found it interesting just the same. So I thought I would share it with you.

After an 11 million year absence, the Laotian Rat-Squirrel has reappeared. The nocturnal rodent living deep within the Laotian Forrest was previously thought to be extinct and identified only through fossilzed records in China and other Asian nations. Biologist discovered the rodent last spring and thinking they had discovered a new species of mammal nicknamed the creature the Laotian Rock Rat.

Upon seeing reports of the rodent, Mary Dawson of the Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum of Natural History immediately recognized it from fossilized records and broke the news that it was not a new species at all but one that was 11 million years old. The animal is neither a Rat nor a Squirrel but a species called Diatomyidae.


Now if Mary can identify the Rat-Monkey from the infamous movie Dead Alive!
Wipikedia reports :

The Sumatran Rat-Monkey is a hideous fictional creature created by director Peter Jackson for his 1992 horror film/ comedy film, Braindead (also known as Dead-Alive). As seen in the film, the animal is found only on Skull Island, a fictional island first conceived of in the 1933 film, King Kong.

The Sumatran Rat Monkey, (least according to a zoo custodian in the film) is the offspring of small tree monkeys and giant plague rats that scurried off passing ocean liners, swam to shore, and began raping the monkeys.

The hideous offspring(s) of these unions is only shown once.

It is a nearly hairless creature with vacant, wide eyes. It appears to resemble a rat far more than a monkey. It is a carnivore and bites at nearly anything it can fit within its mouth.