Southern Thailand once hosted a gigantic rodent. A 66-pound rodent once roamed Thailand about 33 to 35 million years ago, and we know this thanks to a gigantic tooth found in a coal mine back in 2004.
As detailed in Scientific Reports, a team of international researchers finally identified the species using two fossilized teeth dug up in Krabi province: a dark molar and a two-inch, cream-colored incisor that geologist Pannipa Tian originally thought was just a regular old bone. Instead, it belonged to Yakamys sirindhornae, a newly discovered member of the extinct Ischyromyidae family that breaks previous records for Paleogene-era rodents because of its chunkiness.
At 66 pounds, it was roughly the size of a modern beaver, making it about half as massive as today’s capybara. South America gets all the attention when it comes to the very specific claim of having mega-rodents; this discovery proves that giant rodents were already stomping around Asia millions of years before their South American cousins diversified.
Scientists Just Discovered a New Species of Giant Rodent, and It Was an Absolute Unit
You can infer a lot about a creature from its teeth alone, but we still don’t fully know what Yakamys sirindhornae looked like or what it ate. The teeth were found in ancient lake sediment, which researchers speculate means it might’ve lived a relatively chill, semi-aquatic lakeside life.
On the other hand, it could also have been a gigantic jittery squirrel, for all we know.
We won’t find out more until paleontologists dig up some more of its remains and get a better look at this big, chunky beast of a rat-like creature that probably wouldn’t sneak away with a fallen New York City sidewalk pizza slice as much as it would just walk up to you and take it off your plate, daring you to do something about it.
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