Dozens of New Species Found in Island Crater

Most people bring back the usual mementos from their overseas vacations: photographs, T-shirts, diarrhea. The BBC Natural History Unit, however, came home with something better. A crew of scientists, academics and filmmakers from the British broadcaster visited the South Pacific island of Papua New Guinea this past spring to film a nature documentary and in the process discovered more than 30 new species of animals. Among the unknown creatures — all living inside the crater of the extinct volcano Mount Bosavi — was a giant rat that measured 32.2 in. and weighed more than 3.3 lb., making it one of the...