Dog sized Rat Species Discovered by Archaeologists in East Timor

The archeoligist researchers found a rat fossil in East Timor, which is ten times bigger than normal rats.

Dr. Louys holding the jaw bone of a giant rat species discovered on East Timor, and comparing it with the same bone of a modern rat. The findings presented their findings this week at the Meetings of the Society of Vertebrate Palaeontology in Texas throw light on the fossils of rat ancestors that grew to size of a lap dog, equal to 11 pounds. “Just to put that in perspective, a large modern rat would be about half a kilo”.

This project is investigating the earliest human movement through Southeast Asia.

Now, researchers are seeking out clues as how these herbivore rats became extinct. He continues, the early age of humans in East Timor was 46000 years ago and they might be living with the large sized rats.

Researchers believe humans lived alongside these giant rats for thousands of years and may even eaten them. But for the first humans arriving on East Timor about 46,000 years ago, they may very well have been a dietary staple, as evidenced by the cut and burn marks found on the rat bones. They added, “The amusing thing is that they stayed together until about 1000 years ago”. However, introduction of metal tools in Timor and large scale clearing out of forests may have been one of the reasons why these rats went extinct.

Researchers say their findings can inform today’s conservation efforts.

Louys said one possible reason for the extinction of the rats is the use of metal tools by humans. “Once we know what was there before humans got there, we see what type of impact they had”, said Louys.

The project forms part of Sue O’Connor’s ARC Laureate ‘From Sunda to Sahul: Understanding Modern Human Dispersal, Adaptation and Behaviour en route to Australia’.

‘Animals will evolve, over time, into whatever designs will enable them to survive and to produce offspring, ‘ said geologist Dr Jan Zalasiewicz, from the University of Leicester.

He said they were the largest known rats to have ever existed and acknowledged a few people thought they sounded terrifying.

In October 2015, a new genus and species of rat has been discovered in Sulawesi Island in Indonesia.