Dog-Sized Giant Rats Once Roamed Our Planet
- 8 years ago
Archaeologists have uncovered fossils of the largest known rats in existence—ten times the size of modern rats.
Fossils of the largest known rats ever in existence have been discovered on the island nation of East Timor.
Researchers from the Australian National University found seven species of ancient rats, one of which was roughly 10 times the size of those living today.
Dr. Julien Louys noted, "They are what you would call mega-fauna. The biggest one is about five kilos, the size of a small dog. Just to put that in perspective, a large modern rat would be about half a kilo."
The fossils were uncovered as part of a project tracking human progression across Southeast Asia in order to gauge humanity’s impact on ecosystems.
The first eviden
Fossils of the largest known rats ever in existence have been discovered on the island nation of East Timor.
Researchers from the Australian National University found seven species of ancient rats, one of which was roughly 10 times the size of those living today.
Dr. Julien Louys noted, "They are what you would call mega-fauna. The biggest one is about five kilos, the size of a small dog. Just to put that in perspective, a large modern rat would be about half a kilo."
The fossils were uncovered as part of a project tracking human progression across Southeast Asia in order to gauge humanity’s impact on ecosystems.
The first eviden