![](\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/dowbrigade\/pattersoni.jpg\")
Scientists
\n have found fossils of what they say is the largest rodent that ever lived,
\n a nine-foot-long, buffalo-sized creature with a long tail and powerful
\n teeth that foraged along the riverbanks of Venezuela about 8 million years
\n ago. <\/p>\n
Scientists said Phoberomys pattersoni probably weighed up to 1,545 pounds,
\n about 10 times the size of today’s largest rodent, the South American capybara,
\n and nearly 2,500 times bigger than a 10-ounce rat. <\/p>\n
For millions of years, anatomist John Fleagle of New York’s Stony Brook
\n University said, South America was an "island
\n continent" where "all sorts of strange creatures developed in
\n isolation." <\/p>\n
And unlike other continents, where rodents competed for food and habitat
\n with other small, aggressive mammals, South America offered few rivals,
\n so rodents "went berserk," he said. <\/p>\n
from the Washington Post<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Scientists have found fossils of what they say is the largest rodent that ever lived, a nine-foot-long, buffalo-sized creature with a long tail and powerful teeth that foraged along the riverbanks of Venezuela about 8 million years ago. Scientists said … Continue reading