Eat more cookies

“Josephoartigasia monesi” – just rolls of the tongue, doesn’t it?A description of a new giant rodent from 2-4 million years ago in Uruguay wins my nomination for “coolest paleontological announcement of the new year”. According to this BBC news story on this paper published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, investigators Andres Rinderknecht and R. Ernesto Blanco have described Josephoartigasia monesi based on reconstruction from a fossilized rodent skull nearly two feet long. Extrapolating body size from that skull and assuming a body shape similar to living capybaras (the 100 lb+ largest living rodent), the authors conclude that Josephoartigasia monesi weighed in excess of a ton. If you met a live one today, it would be bigger than a very large bull.According to the story, an “amateur paleontologist” discovered the skull and apparently sent it to the Museum of Natural History in Montevideo where it remained for three years awaiting formal study. There are two lessons in this scenario:1) It is important and desirable for non-professional scientists to be trained, informed, and encouraged to pursue their avocations. The guy who found this fossil could be spending his downtime drinking beer and watching futbol – instead, he apparently spends that time in the field looking for fossils. Good for him!2) Our museums are understaffed, and as educators, we’re not placing enough of an emphasis on the exciting world of museum science! This weekend, go check out a natural history museum near you.