A new species has been discovered in Lexington High School after the collapse of a wall behind the main building’s auditorium. The species, categorized as a close relative of the rodent family, is endemic to LHS.
The event occurred on Wednesday, March 25 around 8:17 a.m. as students were arriving at school. Carlton Ward, the school’s technical theater director, reported to officers at the scene that he was dropping off prop materials for the upcoming musical Rats and Dolls when he suddenly heard a loud crash.
“I had come in to drop off the papier-mâché for our lead’s masks when there was a deafening crash. The back wall by the costumes had almost totally fallen apart, and there was just this naked rat-looking thing in the debris,” Ward said.
Students and staff in the vicinity described a similar experience, adding that they felt the floor shake in the area around the Commons. Although the collapse did not cause the floors above to cave in, it prompted the immediate evacuation of students to the field house.
“None of my friends and I could believe it. I mean, a wall collapse was not on my radar,” Tammy Thompson, a senior at LHS, said.
The evacuation turned into an immediate dismissal when police officers and firefighters received reports of an unidentified creature on school grounds. As rumors of an animal infestation circulated, Lexington Public Schools superintendent Brian Robeson sent out a statement to members of the LHS community.
“Until the wall in the main building is fixed and the rest of the school is surveyed for structural integrity, LHS will transition to an online learning environment. As for the animal found on school grounds, the situation has been deemed safe, and animal control has been called. We believe that the issue will be dealt with shortly,” Robeson wrote.
However, the issue ended up being more serious than thought. Upon the arrival of animal control, it was quickly made clear that the creature was not any regular rodent. Official reports detail that it was approximately seven inches long, with no hair and a patchwork of brown and pink pigmentations. In accordance with the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act, the creature was not removed from the school, and an animal expert was called in.
“It’s truly remarkable, unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” said Neagui Spig, the rodentologist on the case. “Though similar in appearance to the naked mole rat, the creature appears to be an entirely new species, with limited characteristics adapted to dark habitats—its large eyes and unique odontology make that quite clear.”
Spig and other rodentologists have begun to investigate how and why the creature ended up in the walls of LHS. Thus far, evidence suggests that the animal is uniquely adapted to the school’s environments, navigating within the walls through an extensive series of tunnels and even correlating its movements with the bell system. Its age implies significant longevity and the possibility that the animal has been present in the building for an extended period. Spig also questioned whether more of such creatures may be present within LHS.
Online schooling in LHS will continue throughout the following week as a thorough building survey is conducted. Upon hearing the news, some students openly rejoiced, while others shrugged off the news.
“I mean, it’s LHS. At this point, it’s just another Tuesday,” said Peter Parker, a junior.
As for the rat-like creature, Spig and his team have published a report formally recognizing and naming the species. It looks like Carltonian Glaber, or the Ward of LHS, as students like to call it, might be here to stay.