New species discovered in Indonesia's "lost world"

BEIJING, Dec. 19 (Xinhuanet) -- Researchers have discovered what they believe are two new species in a remote Indonesian jungle, according to media reports Wednesday.

American and Indonesian researchers found pygmy possum and giant rat during a scientific expedition to the Foja Mountains of western New Guinea, a "lost world" because much of it remains virtually unexplored and uninhabited.

"It's comforting to know that there is a place on earth so isolated that it remains the absolute realm of wild nature," Bruce Beehler, the scientist who led the expedition, said in a statement. "We were pleased to see that this little piece of Eden remains as pristine and enchanting as it was when we first visited."

"The giant rat is about five times the size of a typical city rat," said Kristofer Helgen, a scientist with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. "With no fear of humans, it apparently came into the camp several times during the trip."

The possum was described as "one of the world's smallest marsupials."

Conservationists are set to return to the Foja Mountains late next year and 2009, when they expect to find additional new species of frogs, mammals, butterflies and plants.

(Agencies)