''Coryphomys'' is an
extinct genus of
rats, known from
sub-fossils found on
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western part. The Indonesian part, al ...
. Its name is
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
for "top-of-the-head
mouse
A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...
" or "summit mouse".
Species include ''
Coryphomys buhleri'' and ''
Coryphomys musseri''. Archaeological research on East Timor has revealed the bones of rats weighing up to 6 kilograms (13.2 pounds) when adult. They seem to have died out between 1000 and 2000 years ago, perhaps due to large-scale forest clearance for farming.
In 2015, the discovery of fossils of "seven new species of giant rat", including the "largest rat ever" on the island of East Timor was announced. The biggest of these rats was described as weighing "five kilos (11 pounds), the size of a small dog," and was referred to as the "Giant Rat" in news stories.
"Giant Rat Species in East Timor Was Largest Ever"
/ref>
References
External links
*https://web.archive.org/web/20100729135507/http://io9.com/5596239/2000+year+old-giant-rat-was-forty-times-bigger-than-its-modern-relatives
*http://news.discovery.com/animals/giant-rat-fossil-discovered.html
*http://www.neatorama.com/2010/07/26/skeleton-of-giant-rat-discovered/
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1041375
Extinct mammals of Asia
Rodent genera
Extinct rodents
Holocene extinctions
Fossil taxa described in 1937