A newly discovered rat, announced Aug. 21 in the journal Biology Letters, lacks back teeth.
The rat lives in the Philippines and is the only known rodent species without molars.
This view of the rat's skull reveals its lack of teeth.
In addition, the rat has double-pointed bicuspid incisors, which it may use to tear its earthworm prey.
Stephanie Pappas is a contributing writer for Live Science, covering topics ranging from geoscience to archaeology to the human brain and behavior. She was previously a senior writer for Live Science but is now a freelancer based in Denver, Colorado, and regularly contributes to Scientific American and The Monitor, the monthly magazine of the American Psychological Association. Stephanie received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of South Carolina and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz.