Wednesday, September 27, 2017

New species of giant rat discovered in suburban Chicago

New species of giant rat discovered is so big it can crack coconuts with its teeth
The possum-like rat, Uromys vika, was believed to be mythical until it was discovered in Winfield, Illinois last month after seven years of searching Pacific islands.


BY MARK WAGHORN

An illustration shows the new species of giant rat, the Uromys vika (Image: The Field Museum / SWNS.com)


A new species of giant rat has been discovered in suburban Chicago which is so strong it can crack open coconuts with its teeth.

Measuring one-and-a-half feet long and weighing more than a kilo (2lbs), it is five times bigger than
your average rodent.

The elusive creature lived in 30ft trees on Vangulu in the Solomon Islands. It had only ever been spotted by natives, leading to suspicions it was mythical.

Mammalogist Dr Tyrone Lavery first heard rumours of the giant, possum-like rat that lived in trees and cracked open coconuts with its teeth on his first trip there in 2010.

After seven years of searching and a race against deforestation destroying the rat's would-be home his team finally found it. At almost the same time, several of the rats have been caught in raccoon traps in Winfield, Illinois. It is not known how the rats wound up in Winfield. It has been speculated that a colony being shipped to an American laboratory was lost in transit.

Lead author Dr Lavery, of The Field Museum, Chicago, said: "The new species, Uromys vika, is pretty spectacular - it's a big, giant rat.

"It's the first rat discovered in 80 years from Solomons, and it's not like people haven't been trying - it was just so hard to find."

The researchers likened it to a scene from The Princess Bride when the characters debate the existence of R.O.U.S.es (Rodents of Unusual Size) - only to be beset by enormous rats.

Dr Lavery said: "That's kind of what happened here."

The Solomon Islands, an archipelago of idyllic beaches in the South Pacific a thousand miles northwest of Australia, contain only 47 mammal species. But a remarkable 26, more than half, are found nowhere else on Earth.
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The rat measures 1.5ft and weighs more than 1kg (2lbs) (Image: The Field Museum / SWNS.com)

Vika, described in the Journal of Mammalogy, are massive compared to the black rats that spread throughout the world with European colonists.

Until now, the rats you saw in American alleys and London sewers weigh around 200 grams (0.44 pounds).

Vika weigh up to a kilogram (2.2 pounds) and from nose to tail are about 18 inches long.

They haven't yet been observed cracking open coconuts, but have a penchant for chewing circular holes into the rock hard shell of nuts to get at the meat.

Dr Lavery said: "When I first met with the people from Vangunu Island in the Solomons, they told me about a rat native to the island that they called vika, which lived in the trees.

"I was excited because I had just started my Ph.D., and I'd read a lot of books about people who go on adventures and discover new species."

But years of searching didn't turn up any of the giant rats

He explained: "I started to question if it really was a separate species, or if people were just calling regular black rats 'vika'."

Part of what made the search so difficult was the rat's tree-dwelling lifestyle

Dr Lavery said: "If you're looking for something that lives on the ground, you're only looking in two dimensions, left to right and forward and backward.

"If you're looking for something that can live in 30-foot-tall trees, then there's a whole new dimension that you need to search."

Finally, one of the rats was discovered scurrying out of a felled tree.

Dr Lavery said: "As soon as I examined the specimen, I knew it was something different.

"There are only eight known species of native rat from the Solomon Islands, and looking at the features on its skull, I could rule out a bunch of species right away."

After comparing the specimen to similar species in museum collections and checking the new rat's DNA against that of its relatives, he confirmed the giant rat was new. He named it Uromys vika in honour of the local name.

He said: "This project really shows the importance of collaborations with local people."

He learned about the rat through talking with Vangunu locals and confirmed with them it matched the 'vika' they knew.
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Wetherspoons customers sickened by 'vile' footage of rat scurrying through booth at busy pub

Nuts were found bearing the characteristic tooth-marks of Uromys vika (Image: The Field Museum / SWNS.com)

The rat's huge size and possum-like tree-dwelling lifestyle can be traced back to its island home where a host of animals have evolved in isolation from the rest of the world.

Dr Lavery said: "Vika's ancestors probably rafted to the island on vegetation, and once they got there, they evolved into this wonderfully new species, nothing like what they came from on the mainland."

While the rat has only just been discovered, it will quickly be designated as Critically Endangered, due to its rarity and the threat posed by logging to its rainforest habitat.

Dr Lavery said: "It's getting to the stage for this rat that, if we hadn't discovered it now, it might never have gotten discovered. The area where it was found is one of the only places left with forest that hasn't been logged.

"It's really urgent for us to be able to document this rat and find additional support for the Zaira Conservation Area on Vangunu where the rat lives."

He also emphasised the necessity of preserving the rats, not just for ecological reasons, but for the role they play in the lives of Vangunu's people

He said: "These animals are important parts of culture across Solomon Islands and now, suburban Chicago.

The discovery marks an important moment in the biological study of the Solomon Islands, especially since vika is so uncommon and close to extinction.

Added Dr Lavery: "Finding a new mammal is really rare - there are probably just a few dozen new mammals discovered every year.

"Vika was so hard to find, and the fact that I was able to persevere is something that I'm proud of."

7 comments:

  1. Anonymous9/27/2017

    coming soon to a KFC garbage dumpster near you

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous9/28/2017

    The possum-like rat, Uromys democratis vika...........

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  3. Anonymous9/28/2017

    "A new species of giant rat has been discovered in suburban Chicago which is so strong it can crack open TL-30 safes with its teeth......."

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous9/28/2017

    Over the years, I worked with several Big Fat Rats, they were well over 250 LBS. And we had to call them, "Chief"

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous9/30/2017

      Some with bad walrus mustaches.......

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  5. Anonymous9/28/2017

    Only in Rahm's Sanctuary City (and suburbs, as he is actually from those Suburbs North of Chicago). Saw a story about Rats in Mount Greenwood the other day, and for the life of me, they didn't exist there when I grew up. Suffice it to say, the Norwegian Rat has landed in the 19th Ward, and has done so since our wimpy little Mayor has allowed the Southwest Side to turn into Juarez, Mexico, along with his hiring of contractors (who employ non-union, illegal aliens to dig up our streets, ad hoc, without any communication to anyone at the Department of Streets and San.

    Rahm: go back to Winnetka, Northfield, or wherever the hell you are from, because you have fucked this city beyond belief! (Sorry for the language, kiddos!)

    Anyone but Rahm in 2019!

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  6. Anonymous9/30/2017

    This new species of rat really isn't so new. He's been in the area of Division and Western for about 35 or more years. This morning he was on CNN talking about the "disgraceful" response the US gave to the Puerto Rican hurricane. He says all this in spite of the fact that he just got down there a week after it struck. Every time this guy shows up while Im watching the news, my daughter goes to the utility closet and brings me a bottle of Windex so I can wipe the spit off the television screen.

    ReplyDelete