If possible, rats just got even uglier.
A new species of pig-like-nosed mammals were discovered in Indonesia, according to a statement released Tuesday by Australia’s Museum Victoria.
The never-before seen creatures are aptly called hog-nosed rats, or scientifically, Hyorhinomys stuempkei.
The rodents were found in a remote mountainous area on the island of Sulawesi in central Indonesia, the museum said.
The unusual mammals appear to be the same size as most other rats but have unique features that distinguish them into a new genus, a video released by the museum explained.
This includes a longer face with very large ears, a very small mouth with no chewing capability and of course, a large pink nose.
The hog-nosed rats feed mainly on earthworms and beetle larvae, slurping up their prey.
It took six weeks for a team of scientists from Australia, Indonesia and the United States to reach the remote forest area of their discovery. The team then caught the elusive rats through traps they set up.
The region of Sulawesi is particularly known for hosting rodents that have not been spotted anywhere else.
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Meet the new species of mammal: the Hog-nosed rat and the team of scientists who discovered it in Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Posted by Museum Victoria on Tuesday, October 6, 2015
“It remains an enigmatic place for mammals ,” Kevin Rowe, a scientist from Museum Victoria who was involved in the research, said in a video posted by the museum.
The news came a day after another rat discovery was announced.
A student at the University of Nebraska Lincoln unearthed a fossil in New Mexico of an undocumented rat-like mammal that existed alongside dinosaurs, according to a release from the university.
Unlike dinosaurs, the creatures — belonging to a group of mammals called multituberculates — managed to survive long past the wipeout of dinosaurs but eventually became extinct 30 millions years later.
Meanwhile, very little is known about the hog-nosed rats, Rowe said.
The newly found rats have been preserved and taken to a museum in Indonesia.
