Discover an ancient mouse that is as big as a dog

The mouse is 10 times the size of modern mice living in East Timor about 1,000 years ago, and is the largest rat ever discovered by archaeologists.

Found the giant ancient mouse in East Timor

According to IB Times, Julien Louys and colleagues at the Australian National University (ANU) discovered the fossil in the project to find the migration of ancient people in Southeast Asia. Evidence found that the ancient people appeared in this area about 46,000 years ago, living with rats and eating them for thousands of years.

Ancient mice are 10 times bigger than today's mice.(Photo: IB Times).

This mouse is about the size of a small dog, the largest one weighs about 5kg, 10 times the weight of the largest rat currently (about 0.5kg). Fossils show signs of this rat in the human gastrointestinal tract.

"We know that they ate giant mice because we found traces of cut and cooked bones. The most interesting thing is, two species coexisted until about 1,000 years ago , " said Julien Louys. know.

Researchers are investigating the cause of this giant rat's extinction. By understanding how ancient people migrated to Southeast Asia, they hoped to know the human impact on the ecosystem here.

Louys holds the jaw bone piece of the giant mouse (left) compared to the modern mouse (right).(Photo: ANU).

"We are trying to find the earliest trace of the ancients, as well as what exists in the land before they arrive , " Louys said. "Once we know how the ecosystem is here, before people come, we will understand the impact of humans on the environment. As for the giant rat, we think they are extinct because At that time, the metal tool began to enter Timor, and people could exploit the forest on a larger scale. "

Previously, scientists from Australia's Science and Technology Research Organization (CSIRO) have found the world's largest mouse, weighing about 6kg, still living in East Timor in 2010. Ken Aplin , CSIRO expert at the time said, "Humans have lived on Timor Island for over 40,000 years, hunting and eating rats during this period, but rats are not extinct until recently."