'''Phoberomys pattersoni''' was a
rodent that lived in the ancient
Orinoco River delta approximately 8 million years ago. It was the second-largest
[1]
of the roughly 7 species of its
genus. Like many other rodents, ''Phoberomys'' was a
herbivore with
high-crowned premolars and
molars.
An almost complete
skeleton of ''P. pattersoni'', discovered in
Urumaco,
Venezuela in
2000, has enabled researchers to reconstruct its size and probable lifestyle. It was 3
m long, with an additional 1.5 m tail, and probably weighed around 700
kilograms, making it the largest rodent for which a good size and weight estimate is currently possible. Its
congener ''
Phoberomys insolita'' was a bit larger still, but it is not known from any reasonably complete remains and thus its size cannot be estimated more precisely.
References
★ McNeill Alexander, R. (2003): ''A Rodent as Big as a Buffalo''.
Science vol. 301, p.1678-9.
(HTML abstract link)
★ Sanchez-Villagra, M.R. ''et al.'' (2003): ''The Anatomy of the World's Largest Extinct Rodent''.
Science vol. 301, p.1708-10.
(HTML abstract link)
Footnotes
1.
Often reported to have been the "largest rodent ever"; this is not correct. See article.
External links
★
''New Scientist'' story about the find
★
AAAS announcement
★
National Geographic images