In recent time, scientists have discovered the full skeleton of what is known to mankind as Ratzilla. Scientists have analyzed fossils of an extinct rodent, Phoberomys that happened to live millions of years ago in that part of land which we call South America. They are considered to be relative of guinea pigs and were of huge size. Scientists had less resources or conforming evidence in the form of full skeleton.
They only had pieces of bones and teeth to reach the conclusion in 1980 by a paleontologist Marcelo R. Sanchez-Villagra. Now the scientist has succeeded in completing the whole skeleton revealing the size of the animal. They are of the view that the huge animal was around 740 Kg and that can be considered as the huge rodent never seen or imagined before.
The big rodent had the difference of size between the front and rear limbs similar to a kangaroo. An 8-million- year rock was excavated and the skeleton was found. Not only the ratzilla but also other animal-remains of crocodiles and turtles found. The existence of “peers” of the Phoberomys (big rodent) point towards the fact that it lived at the shores of river deltas.
Phoberomys went through evolution in the isolated South America around 40 million years ago at a time when South America was geographically isolated from North America. Because there were no other conventional plant-eaters e.g. horses or cows, in South America, they enjoyed great opportunity to evolve in to different types of species like this huge rodent. The predators of the South American island were not as fiercer as in other parts of the world. It gave good conducive environment for the evolution of these species of animals. But when North and South America were bridged and linked, the North American fierce predators played havoc on the South American species and made them extinct.
Ratzilla
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