What is the Largest Rodent That Ever Lived?
The largest rodent that ever lived was the size of a cow. It was 3m (9.8 ft) long, with a 1.5 m (5 ft.) tail, and probably weighed around 700 kg (1,543 lbs). This rodent could kill you if it sat on you. Actually, the figures cited are for Phoberomys pattersoni, which is only the second-largest rodent that ever lived. Its close cousin, Phoberomys insolita, was even a bit larger, but no complete skeleton of it has ever been found, making a precise estimate of its size and weight difficult. Phoberomys pattersoni lived in the Late Miocene, about 8 million years ago. It dwelled around the Orinoco river delta in modern-day Venezuela, feeding on grasses and shrubs. Its sheer size would have been a deterrent to predators, much like its herbivore contemporaries, the ground sloths. Like other rodents, Phoberomys pattersoni had large, continuously growing teeth that had to be kept short by gnawing. These teeth, the size of sabers, would have also been used to bite would-be predators. It is not li
