A rat the size of Mr Hippo...

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domtyler

Über Member
Is this a true story or a wind up? I smell a ....

IGMC
 

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
Aperitif said:
Here's the story.

I think it would be more interesting if a hippo the size of a rat had been discovered. Think of these tiny little creatures wallowing in their own desk top mudbath - fascinating.:cry:

Well, there were once dwarf elephants and hippos, on islands like Crete or Cyprus. Not sure they were as small as rats, more like dogs. But a desktop hippo or elephant would be really fun!:cry:
 

buggi

Bird Saviour
Location
Solihull
why do they presume it lived it water just because it's big? elephants don't and they are huge.

i better get a bigger cage for mine, in case the size gene has skipped a few generations!
 

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
buggi said:
why do they presume it lived it water just because it's big? elephants don't and they are huge.

i better get a bigger cage for mine, in case the size gene has skipped a few generations!

I don't know, I'd be more sure if they had found post-cranial (limb) bones, but I suspect that they are assuming that it had a similar body plan to other rodents, in which case it would need the water to support itself, whereas elephants have massively bulky joints, designed to take their weight. Rodent limbs are better suited to running, than massive weight bearing

The Capybara is a large rodent (but not that large!), and it spends a lot of time in water, so there is an analogy...
 

rikki

Legendary Member
Megafauna in Australia (prehistoric) didn't live in water.

Giant wombats didn't need water to support their bodies.

A wombat is bigger and a lot sturdier than a rat, but a rat-like dog (can't spell chihhhhuuhhaa) is a lot different to a mastiff or a wolf hound or a Pyrenean mountain dog.
 

simonali

Guru
This is a completely rubbish story coz this rat they discovered was a dead one! Find a live one of these and I'll be more interested.

There must be pictures of a man patting it on the head for scaling purposes and no using that little fella from Austin Powers to make it look bigger coz I'll be able to tell.
 

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
rikki said:
Megafauna in Australia (prehistoric) didn't live in water.

Giant wombats didn't need water to support their bodies.

A wombat is bigger and a lot sturdier than a rat, but a rat-like dog (can't spell chihhhhuuhhaa) is a lot different to a mastiff or a wolf hound or a Pyrenean mountain dog.

Chihuahua... Just showing off I can spell it. Think of it pronounced Chi-hua-hua...

Ah dogs, yes, apparently they have a great deal of latent genetic diversity hence so many sizes and shapes. Apparently cats don't have to much, which is one reason that domestic cats all tend to be much more similar than the different breeds of dog...

I dunno about the water thing though, as you say, there are precedents for and against. Lets just be glad there aren't any of these living in our dustbins!
 

Tetedelacourse

New Member
Location
Rosyth
Arch said:
Chihuahua... Just showing off I can spell it. Think of it pronounced Chi-hua-hua...

Ah dogs, yes, apparently they have a great deal of latent genetic diversity hence so many sizes and shapes. Apparently cats don't have to much, which is one reason that domestic cats all tend to be much more similar than the different breeds of dog...

I dunno about the water thing though, as you say, there are precedents for and against. Lets just be glad there aren't any of these living in our dustbins![/QUOTE]

Amen to that. You'd get a riddle with an entrenched viewpoint every time you took the rubbish out.
 

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
Tetedelacourse;158244][QUOTE=Arch said:
Chihuahua... Just showing off I can spell it. Think of it pronounced Chi-hua-hua...

Ah dogs, yes, apparently they have a great deal of latent genetic diversity hence so many sizes and shapes. Apparently cats don't have to much, which is one reason that domestic cats all tend to be much more similar than the different breeds of dog...

I dunno about the water thing though, as you say, there are precedents for and against. Lets just be glad there aren't any of these living in our dustbins![/QUOTE]

Amen to that. You'd get a riddle with an entrenched viewpoint every time you took the rubbish out.


Oh, very clever...;)
 
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