More than 6 million years ago, on a leafy stretch of what is now Venezuela, an odd, lumbering rodent grazed, scanning the horizon for attackers. But this creature was no meek little mouse. It weighed more than 1,500 pounds and looked like a buffalo-size guinea pig!
Last week, scientists reported that they have found a nearly complete fossil of this animal. It is believed to be the biggest rodent ever.
"Imagine a weird guinea pig, but huge, with a long tail for balancing on its hind legs, and continuously growing teeth," said Marcelo R. Sanchez-Villagra, the lead author of a study of the fossil, which appears in Science magazine. Scientists believe that Phoberomys pattersoni must have eaten nearly nonstop.