Largest Rat on Earth was 10 Times the Size of a Modern Rat

First Posted: Nov 06, 2015 04:15 PM EST

Scientists may just have uncovered the largest rat in history. They've found the fossils of seven giant rat species on East Timor, with the largest up to 10 times the size of modern rats.

"They are what you would call mega-fauna," said Julien Louys, one of the researchers, in a news release. "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."

About 46,000 years ago, humans lived on East Timor. At that time, humans actually caught and ate giant rats. Evidence can mostly be found in the form of rat bones with cut and burn marks.

"The funny thing is that they are co-existing up until about a thousand years ago," said Louys. "The reason we think they became extinct is because that was when metal tools started to be introduced in Timor, people could start to clear forests at a much larger scale."

Currently, the researchers are hoping to get an idea of when humans first moved through the islands of Southeast Asia, and how they impacted the ecosystems present.

The findings reveal a bit more about these ancient rats, and also show that they were a major food source for humans at the time. However, these species went extinct as human technology improved.

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TagsFossil, fossils, Animals, Animal, Animal Behavior, Rats, Mammals, Mammal