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Ancient rodent the size of a buffalo It would be an exterminator's worst nightmare: A 1,545-pound rodent with a voracious appetite and big teeth. Resembling a guinea pig grown to the size of a buffalo, the animal lived millions of years ago in a South American swamp and is thought to be history's biggest rodent, researchers say this week in the journal Science. |
Heh, that would be pretty cool...It would make good target practice if it didn't bite. I think I will stick to gophers for now. Just imagine that in your backyard eating your vegetables and kids....that would be scary. Edited: konquererz on 14th May, 2006 - 1:16am
Right now the biggest rodent in the world is the Capybara, which lives in the jungles of South America. One hundred pound specimens are not unusual, and there's no reason to believe that a 200 pound capybara doesn't live in the jungle somewhere, since most of it is unexplored. The only predators that pose any real threat are crocodiles and jaguars, and jaguars aren't very common anymore.
Anyway, saying there was a 1,545 pound rodent is rather imprecise. It would be more believable had they said a 1,500 pound rodent. How they extrapolated the extra 45 pounds from existing data demonstrates a lack of understanding of mathematics.