Dog-sized rat fossils were recently unearthed in Southeast Asia, and according to Australian National University (ANU) researchers, they used to live alongside the ancient people of East Timor thousands of years ago.
The ANU archaeologists discovered seven giant rat species, which were about the size of miniature dachsunds, on East Timor. When compared with modern rats, they appear 10 times larger, making them the largest rats to have existed in the history of the Earth.
"They are what you would call mega-fauna. The biggest one is about five kilos, the size of a small dog," said lead paleontologist Julien Louys from ANU in an online statement.
"Just to put that in perspective, a large modern rat would be about half a kilo (2.2 pounds)," he added of the dog-sized rat fossils.
According to Fox News, the findings have been presented last month to the Meetings of the Society of Vertebrate Palaeontology held in Texas. Part of the "From Sunda to Sahul project," the dog-sized rat fossils aim to look at the movement of earliest humans in Southeast Asia.
Right now, the ANU researchers are figuring out how the dog-sized rats became extinct. According to them, humans might have played a big role in their extinction.
"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," said Louys.
Early humans also had no fear of these dog-sized rats. In fact, they consider them a source of food.
According to Louys, early East Timor humans' records date way back to around 46,000 years ago, meaning their co-existence with the dog-sized rats occurred for thousands of years.
"We know they're eating the giant rats because we have found bones with cut and burn marks," Louys added.
According to the research team, this new information gathered of the huge rat fossils can be utilized in current conservation efforts.
"Once we know what was there before humans got there, we see what type of impact they had," said Louys.
According to the Christian Science Monitor, big animals during pre-historic times, such as these dog-sized rats, have survival advantages over smaller animals since it means less predators and less competition for resources. In addition, their massive bodies retain more heat during cold climates. As for hot climates, massive-bodied animals are less prone to overheat.
This reportedly means that there is a chance that these dog-sized rats could emerge again. While it took 15 million years for big mammals to return after the extinction of dinosaurs, they were still able to come back. This means that if the giant rats do return to Earth, it could also take millions of years.
- Contribute to this Story:
- Send us a tip
- Send us a photo or video
- Suggest a correction
