They are rodents of unusual size, in an unexpected place. Fossils of three new species of giant cloud rats have researchers in the Philippines scratching their heads: The find, on the island of Luzon, hints the archipelago—one of the most species-rich places on the planet—was somehow even more biodiverse in the past. But it also raises questions about how these fluffy, pot-bellied rodents ended up in a cave, outside their usual habitat, and why they went extinct. The giant cloud rat fossils come from Callao Cave and its immediate vicinity….
