Phoberomys
Name:
Phoberomys
(fear mouse).
Phonetic: Foe-be-rom-mis.
Named By: Kraglievich - 1926.
Synonyms: Dabbenea pattersoni.
Classification: Chordata, Mammalia, Rodentia,
Dinomyidae.
Species: P. insolita
P.
burmeisteri, P. bordasi.
Diet: Herbviore.
Size: Total length 4.5 meters long, 1.5 meters
tall,
around 700 kilograms.
Known locations: South America.
Time period: Tortonian of the Miocene.
Fossil representation: Few specimens.
The
description of an almost complete Phoberomys
pattersoni in 2000 led
to worldwide headlines of Ratzilla (after the Japanese kaiju
Godzilla). These rare remains allowed for one of the most accurate
size estimates of this genus which led to it being considered as one of
the largest rodents ever to live, although despite the more popular
name of Ratzilla, Phoberomys is thought to have
been more like a
guinea pig than a rat. The high crowned molars of Phoberomys
indicate
that it was a grass grazer rather than a browser of vegetation.
Phoberomys
was many times bigger than the largest rodent alive today, the
capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris). It is
speculated however
that Phoberomys may have been semi aquatic like the
capybara,
although the water would have been a very dangerous place to be since
giant crocodiles like Purussaurus
are known to have lived in South
America during the Miocene. Additional threats could have come from
the larger and more powerful phorusrhacid
birds like Brontornis
and
Kelenken.
Smaller predators such as the sabre-toothed marsupial
Thylacosmilus
would have been more of a threat to smaller juvenile
Phoberomys.
Although
we can accurately reconstruct P. pattersoni,
the earlier species
P. insolita may have actually been bigger,
although the lack of
total remains for this species makes it hard to be certain. Today
another rodent called Josephoartigasia
is considered to be even bigger
than Phoberomys.
Further reading
- The Anatomy of the World's Largest Extinct Rodent - Science 301, 1708
(2003), DOI: 10.1126/science.1089332. - Marcelo R. Sa�nchez-Villagra,
Orangel Aguilera & Ines Horovitz - 2003.
- Reappraisal of the giant caviomorph rodent Phoberomys burmeisteri
(Ameghino, 1886) from the late Miocene of northeastern Argentina, and
the phylogeny and diversity of Neoepiblemidae. - Historical Biology. 30
(4): 486–495. -Luciano L. Rasia & Adriana M. Candela - 2018.
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