Phoberomys pattersoni

Phoberomys pattersoni Temporal range: Late Miocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Suborder:	Hystricomorpha
Family:	Dinomyidae
Genus:	†Phoberomys
Species:	†P. pattersoni
Binomial name
Phoberomys pattersoni (Mones, 1980)
Synonyms
Dabbenea pattersoni Mones, 1980

Phoberomys pattersoni is an extinct rodent that lived in the ancient Orinoco River delta approximately 8 million years ago. It was the second-largest of the roughly 7 species of its genus. Like many other rodents, Phoberomys was a herbivore with high-crowned premolars and molars. Informal names include Ratzilla and Mighty Mouse.

An almost complete skeleton was discovered in Urumaco, Venezuela in 2000. The new species was later classified with the name Phoberomys pattersoni in honor of palaeontologist Brian Patterson. From the fossil, researchers have been able to reconstruct its size and probable lifestyle. It was 3 m (9.8 ft) long, with an additional 1.5 m (4.9 ft) tail, and probably weighed between 250 kg (550 lb) and 700 kg (1,500 lb)), making it for some years the largest known rodent for which a good size and weight estimate was 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.

In early 2008, the discovery of Josephoartigasia monesi was announced, which was even larger.

References

• McNeill Alexander, R. (2003): A Rodent as Big as a Buffalo. Science vol. 301, p.1678-9. (HTML abstract link)
• Millien, Virginie and Helene Bovy (2010) : When Teeth and Bones Disagree: Body Mass Estimation of a Giant Extinct Rodent. Journal of Mammalogy vol. 91, p.11-18.
• 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)

External links

• New Scientist story about the find
• AAAS announcement
• National Geographic images