Gigantic prehistoric 'guinea pig' fossils discovered
By Dan Vergano, USA TODAY
Hate cleaning pet cages? It could be worse. At least your guinea pig isn't the size of a buffalo like the now-extinct creature described by paleontologists Friday.
Living in then-lush marshes in Venezuela 6 million years ago, the 1,500-pound Phoberomys (FOE-ber-o-mees) weighs in as the largest rodent ever discovered. The discovery of two fossil skeletons, including a nearly complete one nicknamed "Goya," is reported in Science magazine.
"It looks like a very large guinea pig, only the animal had a long tail," says paleontologist Marcelo Sánchez-Villagra of Germany's Tubingen University. He led the research team that discovered the fossils in an arid region of northern Venezuela, a new frontier for paleontology. Only a few fragmentary fossil teeth of the creature had previously been uncovered, making size estimates uncertain.
Although rodents today are small, Phoberomys shows how creatures evolve to fill empty niches in the natural world of their time, says paleontologist Maureen O'Leary of the State University of New York, Stony Brook, who was not involved in the research. "Certainly paleontologists have known giant rodents existed in the past but it's good to find these fossils," O'Leary says. "It's not like we can go out and shoot one of these things today."
An isolated continent until 3 million years ago, when the Central American land bridge connected the Americas, South America and its marshes made an excellent home for the water-loving giant rats. They lived alongside giant turtles and catfish, chewing on grasses with long rodent teeth.
Nine feet long and 4.2 feet tall, Phoberomys had a long tail to help balance its weight as it moved. The researchers also have found trace fossils of jumbo crocodiles that probably preyed on the rodents.
Competition from North American animals and a changing climate likely led to the giant rodent's extinction, says Sánchez-Villagra. In a commentary, biologist R. McNeill Alexander of the United Kingdom's University of Leeds suggests they were too slow to escape new predators.
By Dan Vergano, USA TODAY
Hate cleaning pet cages? It could be worse. At least your guinea pig isn't the size of a buffalo like the now-extinct creature described by paleontologists Friday.
Living in then-lush marshes in Venezuela 6 million years ago, the 1,500-pound Phoberomys (FOE-ber-o-mees) weighs in as the largest rodent ever discovered. The discovery of two fossil skeletons, including a nearly complete one nicknamed "Goya," is reported in Science magazine.
"It looks like a very large guinea pig, only the animal had a long tail," says paleontologist Marcelo Sánchez-Villagra of Germany's Tubingen University. He led the research team that discovered the fossils in an arid region of northern Venezuela, a new frontier for paleontology. Only a few fragmentary fossil teeth of the creature had previously been uncovered, making size estimates uncertain.
Although rodents today are small, Phoberomys shows how creatures evolve to fill empty niches in the natural world of their time, says paleontologist Maureen O'Leary of the State University of New York, Stony Brook, who was not involved in the research. "Certainly paleontologists have known giant rodents existed in the past but it's good to find these fossils," O'Leary says. "It's not like we can go out and shoot one of these things today."
An isolated continent until 3 million years ago, when the Central American land bridge connected the Americas, South America and its marshes made an excellent home for the water-loving giant rats. They lived alongside giant turtles and catfish, chewing on grasses with long rodent teeth.
Nine feet long and 4.2 feet tall, Phoberomys had a long tail to help balance its weight as it moved. The researchers also have found trace fossils of jumbo crocodiles that probably preyed on the rodents.
Competition from North American animals and a changing climate likely led to the giant rodent's extinction, says Sánchez-Villagra. In a commentary, biologist R. McNeill Alexander of the United Kingdom's University of Leeds suggests they were too slow to escape new predators.
