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| Flores Giant Rat
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| Papagomys armandvillei |
The Flores Giant Rat (Papagomys armandvillei) occurs on Flores Island in Indonesia. Head and body length is 41 - 45 cm and tail length is 33 - 70 cm, making the Flores giant rat at least twice the size of an average brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) with a 25 cm long body and 15 cm long tail.
Musser (1981) describes the rats as having small, round ears, a chunky body and a small tail, and that the giant rat of Flores appears to be adapted for life on the groud and refuge in burrows. The rat has dense dark hair (pelage). Analysis of the teeth of P. armandvillei suggests that the rat has a diet of leaves, buds, fruit, and certian kinds of insect as inferred by large hypsodont teeth.
Musser, G.G. 1981. The giant rat of Flores and its relatives east of Borneo and Bali. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 169:67-176.
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