Bunn's short-tailed bandicoot rat

Bunn's short-tailed bandicoot rat (Nesokia bunnii) is a species of rodent in the family Muridae that is found only in the marshes of southeastern Iraq. It is named for the Iraqi zoologist Dr. Munir K. Bunni and was described by Khajuria in 1981. The article says it is feared that the species might have gone extinct because the Mesopotamian Marshes, its only known home, were drained, and the IUCN Red List assessment it cites, from 2008, rates the species as Endangered. The article also quotes an Old Babylonian period cuneiform tablet from Tell Abu Antiq in which a writer reports being sent bandicoots, one of which he kept for his own meal and found excellent.