The rat is an animal with which many superstitions, myths and prejudices are associated. In the Middle Ages, these animals were considered messengers and accomplices of the devil, and modern mankind for the most part fears them, considering them not only carriers of infection (which has long been scientifically proven), but also aggressive, vile and treacherous creatures. Although many people who have the usual gray rat became a pet, they were convinced that these animals are affectionate, intelligent and loyal. Unlike most rodents, they are very clean and on their own initiative choose places for a “toilet”, leaving no traces of life activity throughout the apartment.
However, even those who dislike these rodents are curious about the largest rat in the world and where it lives. Probably, just to breathe a sigh of relief, counting the kilometers that separate her from her home.
The Apple of Discord: Capybara
Most people believe that the largest rat in the world is the capybara, living in South and Central America. On the one hand, they are somewhat right: a capybara in height reaches half a meter, in length - a meter, and in weight - fifty kilograms. However, it would be more correct to say that the capybara is the largest rodent, not a rat. The structure of the body and muzzle of her is very different from all known types of rats. Moreover, she does not have a tail from birth, her claws are hoof-shaped, and her diet is exclusively vegetative, while most rats are omnivores. So from a scientific point of view, to consider a capybara a rat is incorrect.
Contenders for victory
Until recently, it was believed that the largest rat in the world is the bamboo Sumatran. Its length, given the tail, in some cases reached seventy-five centimeters. Individual individuals weighed as much as four kilograms. However, this record is now broken.
For some time, the “booty" of the Chinese from Fuzhou was considered an unproven winner. Right in the city, he managed to catch an instance in which only the tail reached a third of a meter - and in rats he was thirty percent shorter than the body. Libra showed that the beast "pulled" eleven kilos; and the incisors in the animal grew by 2.5 centimeters. However, besides photography, the “hunter” couldn’t bring anything else to proof, so the existence of this monster remained in doubt.
The largest rat in the world
A giant species of these rodents is found in New Guinea, on Papua. They were discovered by scientists who conducted observations in a completely different field of science. It is noteworthy that not a single mutant was found, but a whole population that chose the extinct Bosavi volcano as its place of settlement. In terms of weight, these rats are inferior to the largest individuals from Sumatra, but they are superior in length to them - the average "growth" among the giants is about 80 centimeters, and the maximum that they managed to measure is a meter and 20 centimeters. Otherwise, the animals look like a barn gray rat, and their habits with habits are similar.
Extinct winner
Not so long ago, scientists found that the largest rat in the world ceased to exist a thousand or two years ago. Excavations in southeast Asia, on the island of Timor, impressed archaeologists: they found skeletons of rats, which in life weighed about six kilograms. Presumably, they reached a length of one and a half meters and more. Thus, it was the largest rat in the world both in weight and in size - unlike modern representatives of the genus, who divided laurels between the two species. Scientists believe that the cause of the extinction of the giants was human deforestation, accompanied by an active hunt for rodents that went to eat.
