Detection of giant mouse fossils

An amateur paleontologist has just found in Uruguay the skull of a giant-sized prehistoric rat that lived about 4 million years ago.

According to researchers, the new animal is believed to be the largest rat that ever appeared on Earth, about 3 meters long, 1.5 meters high and weighs between 468 kg - 2.5 tons. The giant mouse's skull was found by an amateur paleontologist at a rock slit in the southern coast of Kiyu. Experts measured a 53 cm long skull meeting with a few centimeters of incisors. This may indicate that the mouse ate the plants under water and may even be fruit.

Newly found animals are also believed to be non-carnivorous and more hippo-shaped than rats. It can live underwater for about half the time to reduce the weight caused by oversized people.

Rats are a very successful group of mammals - 4 of 10 mammals, but they are usually small in size, usually less than 1kg. The largest rat living on Earth is the South American guinea pig, which only reaches 60 kg, much smaller than the newly discovered animal.

Scientists believe that giant mice range in size from 468 kg - 2.5 tons.

Scientists believe that this giant animal may have to live with ' terrorist birds ' or sword-like cats.

Professor Rudemar Ernesto Blanco from the Institute of Physics at Montevideo (Uruguay), which is continuing to study the skull of the mouse, said: ' If you are a mouse, you may not run very fast, so you have to fight other predators. Maybe they have to reach this size to protect themselves . '

The new giant mouse named Josephoartigasia Monesi after the name of Uruguayan paleontologist Alvaro Mones, a South American rodent researcher. However, the mouse is not the first oversized creature to be discovered in South America. In 2003, the largest mouse ever discovered in Venezuela was Phoberomys pattersoni, weighing 700kg.

The skull of the rat is huge compared to the size of a normal mouse.

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