A long-mythical type of rat that’s able to grow as large as a human baby and with teeth big enough to chomp through coconuts has been photographed for the very first time.
The critically endangered Uromys vika, one of the world’s rarest rodents, was captured by cameras set up on the remote South Pacific island of Vangunu in the Solomon Islands, according to the University of Melbourne.
The species was only discovered in 2017 when a single ginormous rat was seen — but not photographed — on the island, which remains the only place it’s ever been spotted.
That initial subject is thought to have fallen out of a tree and died, having become the first new rodent species discovered in the Solomon Islands in more than 80 years.
“For decades anthropologists and mammalogists alike were aware of” folklore surrounding the giant rats, “but periodic efforts to scientifically identify and document this species were fruitless,” noted lead study author Dr. Tyrone Lavery.
His team was able to use camera traps filled with sesame oil to capture 95 images of four different Uromuys vikas – a male and three females, the university said.
“Capturing images of the Vangunu giant rat for the first time is extremely positive news for this poorly known species,” Lavery said.
The giant rat has a long tail, very short ears, and is at least twice the size of a common rat — with adult animals able to grow to at least one-and-a-half feet in length.
Locals say the hulking rodent, which builds its nests in trees on the 210-square-mile island, can crack green coconuts with its prominent teeth.
The Uromys vika is listed as critically endangered because its habitat is being destroyed by logging.
“This comes at a critical juncture for the future of Vangunu’s last forests – which the community of Zaira have been fighting to protect from logging for 16 years,” said Lavery, of the University of Melbourne School of Biosciences.
If the logging continues, Lavery warned, “it will undoubtedly lead to [the] extinction of the Vangunu giant rat.”
