The biggest rat in the world: the winner by weight and the winner by size

A rat is an animal, with which there are many superstitions, myths and prejudices. In the Middle Ages, these animals were considered envoys and accomplices of the devil, and modern mankind is mostly afraid of them, considering not only the bearers of the infection (which has long been scientifically proven), but also aggressive, mean and insidious creatures. Although many people, who have an ordinary gray rat became a pet, were convinced that these animals are affectionate, intelligent and faithful. Unlike most rodents, they are very clean and on their own initiative choose places for "toilet", leaving no traces of life activity throughout the apartment.

However, even for those who are hostile towards these rodents, it is curious what the largest rat in the world and where she lives. Probably, at least in order to breathe a sigh of relief, counting the kilometers that separate her from her home.

"Apple of discord": capybara

Most people believe that the biggest rat in the world is the cappuccino living in South and Central America. On the one hand, they are right in something: the capybar grows to a height of half a meter, in length - a meter, and in weight - fifty kilograms. However, it will be more correct to say that the cappuccino is the largest rodent, and not a rat. The structure of the body and muzzle in it is very different from all known types of rats. Moreover, she has no tail from birth, claws are hoof-shaped, and the diet is exceptionally vegetative, while most rats are omnivorous. So from a scientific point of view, it is incorrect to consider capybaru as a rat.

Challengers for victory

Until recently, it was believed that the largest rat in the world - bamboo Sumatran. Its length, taking into account the tail, in some cases reached seventy five centimeters. Individuals weighed as much as four kilograms. However, now this record is beaten.

An unproved winner for some time was considered to be the "extraction" of a Chinese from Fuzhou. Right in the city, he contrived to catch a specimen that had only a tail of one-third of a meter-and in rats it was shorter than a body of thirty percent. Libra showed that the beast was "tightened" by eleven kilos; And incisors in an animal grew by 2.5 centimeters. However, in addition to photography, nothing more could be shown to prove the "hunter", so the existence of this monster is still in question.

The biggest rat in the world

A giant variety of these rodents is found in New Guinea, Papua. They were discovered by scientists who conducted observations in a completely different field of science. It is noteworthy that it was not a single mutant that was found, but an entire population that chose the extinct volcano of Bosavi as its place of settlement. By weight, these rats are inferior to the largest specimens from Sumatra, but exceed them in length - the average "growth" of giants is about 80 centimeters, and the maximum one that we managed to measure is a meter and 20 centimeters. Otherwise, the animals look like a gray gray rat, and habits with habits are similar.

The extinct winner

Not so long ago, scientists established that the largest rat in the world ceased to exist a thousand or two years ago. Excavations in the southeast of Asia, on the island of Timor, struck archaeologists: they found skeletons of rats, which during life weighed about six kilograms. Presumably, in length they reached one and a half meters and more. Thus, it was the largest rat in the world both in weight and in size - in contrast to the modern representatives of the genus, who divided the laurels between the two species. Scientists believe that the cause of the extinction of the giants was human activity on deforestation, accompanied by an active hunt for rodents who went to food.

Russian record holders

The vastnesses of the country are not distinguished by a special variety of species of rats. The largest in Russia is the gray big rat, it's granary, it's also a pasyuk. In length it reaches forty centimeters, although most specimens are much smaller. The average weight is about 170 grams, although some individuals can gain up to four hundred.

However, the Russian record holder can be considered an Indonesian rat, well accustomed to the Moscow metro. The average weight of this variety is three hundred grams; There are copies and a half a kilogram. Their body length is about 50 centimeters (with a tail, of course); Registered individual representatives who grew to 65. Of course, the question remained unclear as to where the Indonesian rats took the metro, but there is no need to worry about the mutants.