In the isolated Solomon Islands of Oceania, mammal expert Tyrone Lavery had spent years trying to locate a giant rat that was rumored to live in trees and with teeth so sharp and strong it could pierce a coconut and eat it. Now, after years of searching and in a constant race against deforestation that is destroying the habitat of such a great rat, Lavery along with other experts, have managed to find it.
“The new species, Uromys vika , is quite spectacular, it is a giant rat,” Lavery told the Journal of Mammalogy announcing the discovery of the rat . “It is the first rat discovered in 80 years from the Solomon Islands; it was very difficult to find.”
The Solomon Islands, a country made up of a group of almost 1,000 islands located northwest of Australia, are biologically isolated. More than half of the mammals on these islands are found nowhere else on Earth, making them a true treasure of life.
“When I first met the people of Vangunu Island in the Solomons, they told me about a rat native to the island they called vika, who lived in the trees. I was excited because I had just started my PhD, and had read a lot of books about adventurous people and discovered new species, “Lavery clarifies.
However, the years passed and there was no trace of the rat. The fact that the rat lived in trees only complicated its location. Finally, he discovered one of these rats running through a felled tree. “As soon as I examined the specimen, I knew it was something different. There are only eight known species of rats native to the Solomon Islands, and by looking at the features on their skull, I was able to rule out a lot of species right away, ” says Lavery.
After comparing the rat with similar species in museum collections and checking the DNA of the new rat against the DNA of its relatives, Lavery confirmed that he was in luck: it was a new species.
Characteristics of the new species of giant rat
We have already commented that the Solomon Islands are full of animals that are not found anywhere else on earth and evolved isolated from the rest of the world. Hence, the characteristics of this rat are so colossal: they weigh about 1 kilogram and are more than 50 centimeters long.
Although scientists have not directly observed rats eating coconuts, they have located some samples that indicate precisely that the coconuts have been pierced by them, rats much larger than any we have seen before. Black rats, for example, barely weigh 200 or 250 grams. These Solomon Islands rats are 4 times bigger.
The giant rat will be designated critically endangered, due to its rarity and the threat posed by logging its rainforest habitat.
“If we hadn’t discovered it now, it might never have been discovered, as the area where it was found is one of the only remaining places in the forest that has not been recorded,” Lavery added.
“It is really urgent that we can document this rat and find additional support for the Zaira Conservation Area in Vangunu where the rat lives.”
Apart from their ecological value, “these animals are an important part of the culture throughout the Solomon Islands, people have songs about them, and even nursery rhymes,” he says.
Referencia: Solomon Islands expedition seeks to conserve the extraordinary monkey-faced bat and giant rat. Journal of Mammalogy 2017 Field Museum.
