There are several reports of giant rat species sightings in some parts of Africa and other part of the world. However, a group of archaeologists from the Australian National University has recently discovered seven species of rat in East Timor with the size of about 10 times the average modern rat.
The Mega-fauna or the huge size rats is the term used to call the fossils found by the archeologists has weighed up to 5 kilos. According to Dr. Louys of the ANU School of Culture, History and Language researcher, there is evidence leading to cutting and cooking the giant rats about 46,000 years ago since he added that these rats have been coexisting with humans until such time that tools were introduced in East Timor where preparations and cooking were convenient.
A geologist, Dr. Jan Zalasiewicz, stated that animals have the ability to change or evolve over time to cope or adapt to their surroundings. This may explain the changes in the physical characteristics of the rats, which turn them into a gigantic creature.
This discovery was a result of the Sunda and Sahul project, which is a research on the earliest movement of humans in the Southeast Asia. The team of archeologists is hoping to make an exceptional discovery on how humans move from Southeast Asia and how it affected the ecosystem in the process and at the same time have the idea of what may be occupying the region before the humans came since the species' evolution is widely spreading all over the globe.
The project also aims to discover the impact of the human movement to the regions of East Timor. Dr. Louys presented their papers in the "Society of Vertebrate Paleontology" in Texas where the team hopes that more discovery will be unveiled with their continued study in the area.
