the giant pouched rats ( genus cricetomys ) of sub-saharan africa are large muroid rodents .

their head and body lengths range from 25 – 45 cm ( 10 – 17.5 in ) with scaly tails ranging from 36 – 46 cm ( 14 – 18 in ) .

they weigh between 1.0 and 1.5 kg ( 2.2 and 3.3 lb ) .

giant pouched rat

] which has been separated as a species from the southern giant pouched rat .
all phylogenetic analyses confirm that the african giant pouched rat genus cricetomys is a monophyletic species assemblage .
dr harpreet s . kochhar : legalization of the gambian pouched rat in canada .
edit : giant pouched rat , doesn ' t have to be gambian as long as it gets close to the same size .
we will use african giant pouched rats ( cricetomys gambianus ) to answer some of these questions . the common name , the african giant pouched rat , is a misnomer , given that it is only a distant relative of the conventional rat ( rattus rattus ) .
at least the giant rat of sumatra would be a little difficult to hide . maybe…
an african giant pouched rat ( also dubbed hero rats for their ability to sniff out mines and tb ) receives a treat during training .
the rat and possum , giant and tiny , were stars on 60 minutes last night .
the giant pouched rats are trained to sniff out land mines in a number of countries in africa .
i was curious about giant pouched / gambian rats and how much they generally cost . anyone know ?
has never been truer . in fact , isaac , an african giant pouched rat , looks like a run - of - the - mill rodent .
an african giant pouched rat ( also dubbed hero rats for their ability to sniff out mines and tb ) receives a treat during training . : aww
dumbo / fancy rats don ' t live up to 8 years like the gambian pouched rat .
a belgian nonprofit has found african giant pouched rats are much better at detecting tnt than people or dogs .
ajayi , s . 1977 . field observations on the african giant rat cricetomys gambianus in southern nigeria .
knight , m . 1988 . thermoregulation in the largest african cricetid , the giant rat cricetomys gambianus .
petition · dr harpreet s . kochhar : legalization of the gambian pouched rat in canada . · urltoken
african giant pouched rats—huge , cat - size rodents native to central africa—have bad vision but an extraordinary sense of smell .
management assistance federal agencies ' responsibilities to control gambian giant pouched rats are established in executive order 13112 . > > more
the african giant rat is an omnivorous rodent which feeds on a wide range of food items . its diet includes
ajayi , s . 1977 . live and carcass weights of giant rat cricetomys gambianus and domestic rabbit oryctalagus cuniculus .
where rubbish is strewn and left and there are reported incidents of these giant pouched rats eating human babies and sleeping adults .
i ' m convinced i study the most adorable rat species in the world , cricetomys gambianus , the african giant pouched rat or the gambian rat . they are perhaps more famously known as hero rats because of their humanitarian work in detecting explosive devices and tuberculosis in biological samples .
dipeolu , o . , s . ajayi . 1976 . parasites of theafrican giant rat cricetomys gambianus in ibadan nigeria .
conflicts a range expansion of gambian giant pouched rats onto the us mainland could harm other wildlife species and agricultural production > > more .
after a gestation period of 27 days , females give birth to litters of two to four altricial pups . the african giant rat
sophia mao with fred , an african giant pouched rat trained to detect unexploded ordnance . “my favourite herorat is fred because he just gets on with the job like me , ” photograph : lauren crothers
the giant pouched rats are strictly nocturnal and mostly solitary , except when breeding . the home range of adult males and female rats overlaps . the
while gambian pouched rats have been confined to grassy key , the concern is that they may make it to the mainland and pose a threat to florida’s agricultural industry in south miami - dade county . these rats are larger than native florida rat species , including the key largo wood rat , cotton rat and silver rice rat , as well as the nonnative common black rat .
gambian pouched rats are very large rats native to central africa , also known as the african giant pouched rat . they would naturally be found in regions south of the sahara desert and can adapt to a variety of habitats . they do require shelter such as hollow trees , rock outcroppings or burrows . where their range overlaps human habitation they can be regarding as pests . gambian pouched rats are famously used to sniff out unexploded landmines and tuberculosis in mozambique , tanzania and thailand . a separate species of pouched rat called the emins pouched rat is also available , although very rare , and is more slendar in appearance than the gambian .
this is a gambian pouched rat , a breed almost 3 feet from nose to tail , the kind of rat that gives cats nightmares . yet this rat is a genius as well as a giant , for it has learned how to detect land mines by scent — and it’s doing its best to save humans like me from blowing up .
poling a , weetjens b , cox c , beyene n , sully a . using giant african pouched rats ( cricetomys gambianus ) to detect land mines .
apopo uses african giant pouched rats ( cricetomys gambianus ) for a number of reasons . rats generally have an excellent sense of smell , are intelligent and trainable , cheap to keep , abundant , and are too light to set off the mines . the african giant pouched rat , in particular , is local to sub - saharan africa and adapted to that environment and resistant to its diseases .
get to know what it ' s like to keep pouched rats as pets .
giant gambian pouched rats have been found on grassy key in florida , two years after they were thought to have been eradicated . this is our future , people .
machang’u r , mgode g , asenga j , mhamphi g , hartskeerl r , goris m , et al . characterization of leptospira isolates from captive giant pouched rats ,
ajayi , s . , o . tewe , e . faturoti . 1978 . behavioral changes in african giant rat ( cricetomys gambianus waterhouse ) under domestication .
research wildlife services ' national wildlife research center conducts research and investigational activities on a wide variety of wildlife damage issues including those related to gambian giant pouched rats . > > more
the giant pouched rat of tropical africa is naturally shy and docile . adults can grow up to three feet long . they have cheek pouches which they use to carry food . if socialised at an early age these wild animals can make wonderful pets .
sounds interesting . when i kept mice they only recognised me as a giant maintenance hand .
the rats will be tested and trained by apopo , a tanzanian - based group that pioneered using the african giant pouched rat to find landmines . harnessed to wires , the rats scamper along and are rewarded by a handler if they find a buried device .
the gambian giant pouched rat ( cricetomys gambianus ) , which are native to a large area of central and southern africa , accidentally became established in the florida keys in 1999 following an escape or release by a pet breeder . if this invasive species reaches the us mainland , there could be extensive damage to the florida fruit industry . this species also poses a risk of monkeypox and other diseases . the gambian giant pouched rat is the subject of a cooperative partnership among ws , the florida fish and wildlife conservation commission , us fish and wildlife service , south florida water management district , and the florida park service , to eradicate the invasive species from the florida keys . overview the gambian giant pouched rat is an invasive species that occurs in the florida keys . > > more
so yesterday , i adopted an unborn land - mine - detecting african giant pouched rat ( cricetomys gambianus ) from tanzania . did i spend 20 minutes figuring out what i was going to call it , as one of my many privileges as an adoptive parent ?
unlike bomb - sniffing dogs , herorats are not handler - loyal , which means a rat will work with anyone . the rat is harnessed and a lead attached that guides where the rat is needed to search . image source :
here we attempt to address several questions surrounding the natural history and behavioral ecology of the african pouched rat . in doing so , we aim to provide a better description of the animal’s natural behavior which will enable systematic study of giant pouched rats , facilitate the identification of other behaviors that could be exploited for training purposes , and help refine explosives - detection methods .
in fact , the pouched rat is more closely related to gerbils than rats ( jansa & weksler , 2004 ) . the term ‘african giant pouched rat’ may refer to one of the two species from the genus cricetomys , however some claim that there are many more species in this genus ( corti et al . , 2005 , olayemi et al 2012 ) . a uniting feature of the cricetomyinae sub - family is the pouched cheek in which these animals store food while foraging . it is for this reason that they are called ‘pouched’ , however their physical resemblance to rattus is most likely a result of convergent evolution from distinct ancestors .
apopo trains african giant pouched rats to sniff out explosives in land mines by conditioning them to associate the scent with rewards of food . the scientists in tanzania exposed the ( not giant ) rats to the smell of the saliva of tb patients and associated the smell with reward of food .
ajayi , s . 1977 . field observations on the african giant rat cricetomys gambianus in southern nigeria . east african wildlife journal , 15 ( 3 ) : 191 - 198 .
machang’u rs , mgode gf , asenga j , mhamphi g , weetjens b , cox c , et al . serological and molecular characterization of leptospira serovar kenya from captive african giant pouched rats (
poling a , weetjens b . j , cox c , beyene n , bach h , sully a . teaching giant african pouched rats to find land mines : operant conditioning with real consequences .
it’s days like this i’m glad i live in a rat - free province .
plantations . the long - tailed pouched rat eats seeds and fruit and bears litters of four to seven young . uncommon and dependent upon wooded habitats , this rodent has been made
last week we told you about the african gambian pouched rat ' s reemergence on grassy key . now comes an organization headquartered in tanzania called apopo , dedicated to training african gambian pouched rats to detect land mines and tuberculosis . when trained , they ' re dubbed herorats .
you may have heard rumors about the african giant pouched rat , or maybe you ' ve seen a picture and thought how great it would be to have one of these majestic giants as a pet . well , before you base your decision to obtain an african rat on what you already know about rats as pets , read on and lea . . .
a tanzanian social enterprise founded by two belgians , called apopo , trains gambian pouched rats to detect land mines and tuberculosis with their highly developed sense of smell , calling the trained pouched rats herorats .
ajayi , s . 1977 . live and carcass weights of giant rat cricetomys gambianus and domestic rabbit oryctalagus cuniculus . east african wildlife journal , 15 ( 3 ) : 223 - 228 .
dipeolu , o . , s . ajayi . 1976 . parasites of theafrican giant rat cricetomys gambianus in ibadannigeria . east african wildlife journal , 14 ( 1 ) : 85 - 89 .
antibodies to serogroup ballum ( serovar kenya ) were detected in humans but not in the sampled animal species in the ecosystem . the serogroup was previously isolated from urine of african giant pouched rat ( cricetomys gambianus ) from morogoro , tanzania [ 14 ] . the seropositivity of the serogroup ballum in humans may be due to the presence of african giant pouched rats in the study area , which may serve as a potential source of the serogroup to humans due to contamination of the environment with urine .
armed with this discovery and his own experiences with various members of the rodent family , weetjens sought out rodent expert professor ron verhagen of the university of antwerp . verhagen recommended a lightweight , four - legged critter with the right nose for the job : the aforementioned african giant pouched rat .
giant pouched rats are only distantly related to the true rats , and are named due to their large cheek pouches ; they are one of the largest species of rat known to man . females of the species may be capable of producing up to 10 litters each year . gprs are nocturnal .
knight , m . 1988 . thermoregulation in the largest african cricetid , the giant rat cricetomys gambianus . comparative biochemistry and physiology a - physiology , 89 ( 4 ) : 705 - 708 .
everdream mousery / rattery needs your help with “ dr harpreet s . kochhar : legalization of the gambian pouched rat in canada . ” . join everdream mousery / rattery and 377 supporters today .
other species have been put forward for the title before , but all seemed to fall short somehow . capybaras are enormous but not very rattish — more like giant guinea pigs . gambian pouched rats can be the size of raccoons , but they are tempermentally and geographically incorrect and anyway aren’t true rats . the mountain giant sunda rat lives on sumatra and is plenty rattish , but not very giant — only half again the size of the common norway brown you see on subway tracks and in the alleys behind grocery stores .
ryan , j . 1989 . evolution of cheek pouches in african pouched rats ( rodentia : cricetomyinae ) .
- import of the gambian pouched rats to be authorized with veterinarians paperwork certifying them being free from diseases .
bart weetjens , a self - described monk , started the organization in 1998 . he had read an article about gerbils detecting explosives in airports and says he had an
aha
moment about the giant pouched rats .
i have a rat . she is awesome but this new . new is always better .
giant rats can already sniff out landmines , but will be branching out in a bid to fight illegal poaching .
the gambian pouched rat is native to africa and is the world’s largest rat , reaching up to 9 pounds . the average size is 3 pounds , measuring 20 - 35 inches from the head to the tip of the tail . the body is gray to brown in color , with a lighter belly . beyond its large size , this rat can be distinguished by its long ( 14 - 18 inches ) , almost hairless tail , with the last third a lighter , off - white color . the gambian pouched rat gets its name from the way it collects food by stuffing its cheek pouches .
gambian pouched rats are a prohibited species in florida ( 68 - 5 . 003 , florida administrative code ) .
geneva : global forum for health research ; 2009 . african giant rats for tuberculosis detection : a novel diagnostic technology .
enter the rats . these are not kitchen rats , but african giant pouched rats , also known as gambian pouched rats , about 2 feet long from head to tail . their eyesight is terrible . but their sense of smell is extraordinary . the rats can detect the presence of tnt in amounts starting at 29 grams ( about 1 ounce ) .
never get just one . left alone ( without a friend ) is tragic to a rat .
the real challenge is finding a breeder . search for gambian pouched rat or emin ' s pouched rat , two similar breeds of the super - large rat variety . the us used to ban them because of a monkeypox fear , though that federal ban has been lifted . i am not sure about specific state laws , but i doubt florida let ' s you do it - they had a small epidemic in the keys a few years ago , the gambian has no natural predators and it tore up some farmland .
an african giant pouched rat sniffs for traces of land mine explosives at a training facility run by apopo , a nonprofit that trains the rats to detect both tuberculosis and land mines . not only does it have an excellent nose , but it can jump 5 feet in the air . carl de souza / afp / getty images hide caption
enter apopo , a belgian nonprofit that has created an army of tnt - sniffing african giant pouched rats . these critters are light enough to walk over the mines without setting them off , and use their noses to find the explosives quickly .
a group in cambodia is using gambian giant rats to find the nearly two million land mines spread out across the country .
malanje , angola — i’m walking in a minefield here in rural angola , tailing a monster rat .
who can identify tb faster : lab technicians for apopo such as karim chang ' a , rehema kondo , eustachian sezary , or a rat like chewa ? no contest — it ' s the rat .
urltoken is the premier rat forum on the internet . registered users do not see the above ads .
ajayi , s . , o . tewe , e . faturoti . 1978 . behavioral changes in african giant rat ( cricetomys gambianus waterhouse ) under domestication . east african wildlife journal , 16 ( 2 ) : 137 - 143 .
update : i looked up some regulations , emin ' s rats and gambian rats were illegal in the us , but the ban was lifted in 2008 . it ' s now legal to own giant pouched rats , as long as they are bred in the us . but state laws all differ . for example , gambian pouched rats are prohibited in the entire state of kentucky , according to born free usa . no other state appears to have a global restriction on the keeping of african pouched rats according to born free usa . some states or localities may require owners to purchase licenses to keep pet african pouched rats .
so can we please ditch the stereotype of rats as dirty criminals ? because there are giant rats being trained to save lives .
a cat and a rat . . . . getting along together ? ! everything i know is lies >
a very proud african giant pouched rat who couldn’t wait to share the good news that she was a mother , excitedly dragged her human ismerie laurencin by the finger to come and meet the new arrivals . these amazing rodents are part of apopo , a belgian non - profit organization that trains rats to sniff out tuberculosis and landmines in hard hit areas around the world .
do you know how to bottle fed gambian pouched rats ? the mother dont accept her 6 babies anymore . they are 2weeks old
african giant pouched rats usually live to eight years old , making them a pretty great investment . this also goes for the tb - detecting rats , one of which can evaluate in 10 minutes more samples than a lab technician can do in an entire day .
despite the fact that our craniometric and sequence data were obtained from populations that are geographically very distant from the type locality ( essentially tanzania vs . angola ) , we argue that our sample also contains c . ansorgei thomas , 1904 . dna sequences that we attribute to this species are from morogoro in tanzania , and a genbank sequence from kenya ( af160613 , erroneously designated as c . emini ) . from our molecular data it is clear that these populations of the so - called southern giant pouched rat do not represent an extension of the species c . gambianus into the savannah zone of east and southern africa . furthermore , our results contradict the suggestion of genest - villard ( 1967 ) that the relatively larger body size of the east african savannah pouched rat , c . ansorgei , is a subspecies under c . gambianus . our findings agree with the interpretation of musser & carleton ( 2005 ) that raised the taxonomic status of the south - eastern african giant pouched rat to that of a full species .
a very proud african giant pouched rat who couldn’t wait to share the good news that she was a mother , excitedly dragged her human ismerie laurencin by the sleeve of her blouse to come and meet the new arrivals . these amazing rodents are part of apopo , a belgian non - profit organization that trains rats to sniff out tuberculosis and landmines in hard hit areas around the world .
gambian rats use screeching as the main form of communication . gambian rats emit one single short cry which is distinguishable from the longer , varied pitch of african giant pouched rats . males also use olfactory cues during courtship when they sniff the urine left by female gambian rats .
conservation international says that an expedition to the remote , jungle - covered foja mountains of papua province in western new guinea found , among many other fascinating things , living specimens of two mammals previously unknown to science , a tiny opossum and a giant rat .
heller a , ledbetter e , singh b , lee dn , ophir ag . ( 2017 ) ophthalmic examination findings and intraocular pressures in wild - caught african giant pouched rats ( cricetomys spp . ) veterinary ophthalmology . 1 - 6 . doi : 10 . 1111 / vop . 12534
who can identify tb faster : lab technicians for apopo such as karim chang ' a , rehema kondo , eustachian sezary , or a rat like chewa ? no contest — it ' s the rat . maarten boersema / apopo hide caption
you ' d better believe it . when a rat puts on his wizard hat , you know he means business .
in recent years , operant discrimination training procedures have been used to teach giant african pouched rats to detect tuberculosis ( tb ) in human sputum samples . this article summarizes how the rats are trained and used operationally , as well as their performance in studies published to date . available data suggest that pouched rats , which can evaluate many samples quickly , are sufficiently accurate in detecting tb to merit further investigation as a diagnostic tool .
two rat trainers stand on either side and are joined be a piece of string attached to a lower leg . the rat is then led across this guide and if it successfully finds a land mine is given a food - based reward .
since my second week ( and after a couple of days of pre - baiting ) i ' ve been catching pouched rats every trap night .
they are also small enough to be easily accommodated and transported and can concentrate for much longer periods of time . more specifically , african giant pouched rats are endemic in africa and resistant to most tropical diseases . their one drawback is their life expectancy , which is only up to 8 years .
the giant african rat has a long tail , which is bare with a white tip . the body is covered with buff - grey , relatively long fur whereas the under parts are slightly paler . front hands are white . face is characterised by long dark whiskers . an
the rat indicates the position of a mine by scratching the surface , but is too light to set off the explosive .
i ' m trapping . seriously , i ' m studying african giant pouched rats , cricetomys gambianis in the wild to learn more about their natural history and behavioral ecology . specifically , we ( my pi and i ) are interested in knowing more about the social organization and behavior of this species .
i think i found my rat : a scraggly codger named boban who is just the right age to have been trained when my kids sponsored the rat . boban was named after a tanzanian soccer star , and the handlers said he was highly dependable .
this map shows confirmed sightings of gambian pouched rats in florida as of march 18 , 2015 . recent confirmed sighting information is available online at urltoken .
gambian pouched rats reproduce easily and can have up to five litters in the span of nine months , with an average of four young per litter .
i used to keep a single rat , and it always seemed perfectly happy as long as i spent time with it .
these are my rats , in the lab . they are the subjects in a larger study to examining their behavioral genetics . however , the first part of the study includes assessing the natural history and basic behavioral biology of the african giant pouched rat , cricetomys gambianus , in africa . i ' ll be traveling to tanzania this summer do just that . i ' ll be announcing more details of my travels and research soon . stay tuned .
we propose to address three questions that address fundamental issues in behavioral ecology or molecular biology while simultaneously advancing the development of the african giant pouched rat as a bio - detection mechanism . the latter holds great promise for the department of defense and the armed forces given the broad need for advanced methods of explosives detection by homeland security , protection from ieds ( improvised explosive devices ) , and for sweeping humanitarian efforts toward demilitarizing land throughout the world .
hi ! can anyone help me ? i would like to purchase a giant pouched rat and i don ' t know where to start . if you ' ve never seen on have a look at some clips on ' you tube ' they are really lovely . i already own 12 fancy rats , but i got to have one of these ( or maybe 2 or 3 or 4 ) i have a very long suffering husband . thanks !
' isaac : the story of a little giant ' follows the rodent ' s impressive journey from classroom to field training , in an unlikely story of heroism .
itty bitty marsupials are cute and all , but it’s the rodent that catches the lede’s eye . your ordinary norway rat is frightening and repugnant enough to most people , the more so for knowing that they teem close by and just out of sight . who wants to meet a giant one ?
, ” when sherlock holmes explains to dr . watson that a name mentioned in a letter , matilda briggs , was not that of a young woman , but rather “a ship which is associated with the giant rat of sumatra , a story for which the world is not yet prepared . ”
a single rat is often happy , whenever you are playing with it . but when you are asleep , or out at work or school , or simply going shopping , the single rat can get bored and lonely . it has nothing to do whenever you are not around . unless your rat is with you literally 24 hours a day , it is inevitable that it will be bored sometimes .
get ready for it , because this is the adorable part - the ' pouched’ reference in the species’ name doesn’t refer to the kind of pouch that carries babies , but rather the kind that sits on the inside of the cheeks for extra food storage . so these guys are pretty much giant , really intelligent hamsters .
maddy , from the videos i ' ve seen they ' re about the size of a house cat . definitely a formidable rat .
new times : so , this gambian pouched rat has been an alleged problem in south florida for years , to the point that officials pretty much agree it needs to be eradicated . that necessary ? hypothetically , if these troublesome rats were all shipped to you , could you teach them anything ?
merry is an african giant pouched rat , or cricetomys gambianus , a docile and exceptionally smart rodent with superior olfactory abilities . she is one of a team of “herorats” bred , trained and deployed by the belgian non - profit apopo , which is headquartered in tanzania . after working successfully to help detect mines in mozambique for more than a decade , and in angola since 2013 , the organisation partnered with the cambodian mine action centre ( cmac ) in 2015 .
poling a , weetjens b , cox c , mgode g , jubitana m , kazwala r , et al . using giant african rats to detect tuberculosis : 2009 findings .
please have more than one rat . they are highly social animals and need to live in at least pairs to be happy and healthy .
this rat will have saved more lives in a day than most people will have in a lifetime . give him the whole banana please .
even if you were the rat ' s perfect human - never apart from it , and sleeping only for an hour or so at a time - you could not provide it with the same sort of companionship as another rat , simply because you are a very different species . you would not , for example , communicate with it , or ( presumably ! ) groom it with your teeth the way another rat would .
to trade , sell , or transport pd ' s and six other species of african rodents ( including gambians and giant pouched rats ) due to the whole monkey pox thing . there was a federal order prohibiting the sale / trade or transport of these on june 11th , with a final ruling on november 4th . . . . which reads :
one rat , named victoria , ambles down a 10 - yard stretch of grass , tethered to a line held by handlers on either end .
weetjens then consulted rodent scholars , who suggested gambian pouched rats , in part because they compensate for very weak eyes with a superb sense of smell . they are called “pouched” not because they are marsupials but because they fill their cheeks with nuts and other goodies , and then bury them underground — relying upon scent to recover their caches later . another advantage of gambian pouched rats is that they have an eight - year life span that offers a lengthy return on the nine months of training needed to detect land mines .
even with plenty of attention from you and out of cage time , both of which help any rat , rats still need groups . : / the only excuse for not keeping rats in groups of two or more is if your rat is showing signs of constant aggression towards a cage mate .
tuberculosis samples are placed for a rat to sniff . a simple scratch on the floor of the test area means a positive hit . image source :
that ' s right : someone using a metal - detecting machine will take a lot longer to detect a land mine than a rat using its nose .
3 girls in qt : shady and misha ( the old ladies ) , and blue fairy 4 boys : spaz , brother , buddy , valentino rip : memory and rattie girl , tinsel ( amazing monkey rat ) , ruby ( the gentle giant ) , holly ( lil ' tilty holly jolly rattie ) - gone from sight but never forgotten .
) are large , weighing nearly 3 kg ( 6 . 6 pounds ) and having bodies up to 42 cm ( 16 inches ) long . their long heads have large ears ; the scantily haired tail is longer than the body and is white on the terminal half . predominantly nocturnal , giant pouched rats are omnivorous and are found throughout sub - saharan africa , except for southern
after a training period of up to a year the rat faces a series of tests and if successful will graduate to real de - mining duties in mozambique .
i’m here because five years ago , my kids gave me a herorat for a father’s day present through urltoken . i didn’t actually take physical possession ( fortunately ! ) but the gift helped pay to train the rat to sniff out explosives . and now i’ve come to minefields of rural angola to hunt for my rat .
ramadhan says that the landmine - sniffing rats have already made a big difference in the places where they work . ( related :
giant rats trained to sniff out tuberculosis in africa .
)
i gave them a little introduction to african giant pouched rats , sometimes call gambian pouched rats , cricetomys gambianus . my rats , as cute and interesting and i think they are , are an exotic animal , not native to the united states . and they have made the news more than one time for their presence in the grassy keys of florida . local fish and wildlife and conservation authorities are worried about this rodent , especially if it ever reaches the mainland . this species has the potential to become an invasive species and wreak havoc on our natural ecology , agriculture and public health .
after the rat pick [ s ] up the scent and scratches ,
hulsok says ,
we give her a food reward , like a banana .
poling a , weetjens b . j , cox c , beyene n . w , bach h , sully a . using trained pouched rats to detect land mines : another victory for operant conditioning .
according to the rat handlers , it requires little human skill to train them ; the rats are quick learners and “easy to work with” . both wild and laboratory - bred rats required four to six months of training to be able to detect tb bacteria successfully . while the giant rats undergo nine months of training , learning to sniff out explosives in old landmines buried underground .
pouched rats are wonderful ( big ) critters ! i know a woman in the uk who breeds them , they ' re a bit more nippy than the average rat , but she ' s starting to breed them to be more tame . unfortunately , i live in the uk and have no idea about in america . sorry , but good luck with your project !
gambian pouched rats are nocturnal and very intelligent . they do need a lot of effort put into taming down a youngster , and it can be very difficult to tame a wilder adult . their large size and powerful bite do not make them a good exotic for a beginner , or someone without the time to invest in them daily . even a well handled pup can change temperament upon sexual maturity or as an adult . it is vital to know the background and family of your gambian pouched rat and do a lot of research before deciding on one as a pet .
gambian pouched rats are one of the world ' s largest rats . besides their large size , the most characteristic trait of gambian pouched rats is the tail which is long , unscaled , and dark in color at the base with the terminal 40 - 60 % white . the fur on the upper body is coarse and gray and often darker down the middle of the back . the fur color grades to a lighter gray on the flanks while the fur on the belly and the top of the feet is white or off - white . dark brown or black patches of fur occur around the eyes and at the base of the whiskers . the naked rounded ear is large and the eyes are small , suggesting that the senses of smell and hearing which are acute may be more important than sight in this nocturnal . the hind feet are large and considered to be well adapted for digging gambian pouched rats possess a pair of large cheek pouches . these pouches can expand to a great size , allowing gambian rats to transport massive quantities of food if necessary . two species are currently recognized : cricetomys gambianus , the gambian pouched rat , and c . emini , emins giant pouched rat . the emins is more slender and muscular in appearance with a longer face to the gambian . other differences are in the fur texture and colour . the emins upper body is smooth and the colour ranging from a dark brown to almost black with a distinct line break to the white underside . some key physical features : endothermic ; homoiothermic ; bilateral symmetry sexual dimorphism : sexes alike .
their utility for the purposes of explosives detection makes the african pouched rat a particularly interesting animal to study . unfortunately almost nothing is known about this species , its natural behavior or its reproductive biology . to truly develop the pouched rat as a biosensor , much about the basic biology must be known . indeed , the most that is known about the behavior of this species comes from only a couple reports from the lab , and the most exhaustive of these was based on the allegorical account of one male and two females . a lack of basic knowledge for the ecology and behavioral habits of c . gambianus severely limits the ability to identify behaviors or environmental conditions to maximize potential for mine detection , or any other application for which this animal may be suited .
since 1997 , a non - profit organization headquartered in tanzania and operating under the acronym apopo ( short for the mouthful of a dutch name anti - persoonsmijnen ontmijnende product ontwikkeling ( or , as it is known by its english translation , anti - personnel landmine detection product development ) has trained african giant pouched rats to detect two things that humans have the ability to but just not nearly as efficiently : landmines and tuberculosis .
take my old rat for example . she had a couple tumors . they were in her brain , pushing up against her skull , making her eyes slowly protrude until they would eventually pop out ( it never got to that point ) . although i took her to a vet , he told me that the best thing anyone could do was to end her suffering humanely , and that ' s what i did . otherwise , rat brain surgery to remove tumors would have been just as devastating to her fragile rat body .
gambian pouched rats are omnivorous , feeding on a range of fruits , vegetables , nuts and insects . they will store their food so keepers will need to check their cage frequently , especially after offering fresh .
alright , so i ' ve had a lot of experience breeding rats , as well as some other more exotic animals , such as hedgehogs . since the ban on giant gambian pouched rats has been lifted for a year now , i thinks that it ' s about time people begin breeding them again . the people who have them absolutely love their little guys , and i feel like if people began breeding for desired traits they could be brought back into the pet world and eventually refined to be just as love - able as our wonderful fancy rats . with these things in mind , i was hoping to start a breeding project soon , but realized that it ' s nearly impossible to find any breeders in the us ! does anyone know where one could get a pair of giant gambian pouched rats in america ? i would really appreciate any help !
ayodeji olayemi , violaine nicolas , jan hulselmans , alain d . missoup , elisabeth fichet - calvet , drazo amundala , akaibe dudu , theo dierckx , wim wendelen , herwig leirs , erik verheyen ; taxonomy of the african giant pouched rats ( nesomyidae : cricetomys ) : molecular and craniometric evidence support an unexpected high species diversity , zoological journal of the linnean society , volume 165 , issue 3 , 1 july 2012 , pages 700–719 , urltoken
, captive bred giant rats are the majority of what is available . buy from a reliable breeder and ask to see the parents if possible as there are some breeders who are not culling out animals with poor temperaments from their breeding animals and this is causing a rise in unstable animals in the pet market which in turn is begining to give the giant pouched rat a bad name . beware of buying from questionable sources , since there have been a few illegal imports of these rats . wild caught and illegally imported animals may carry parasites or dangerous viruses , since they have not been quarantined or tested before entering the country . stick with usda licensed breeders only or pet shops that can tell you where the animals came from . a usda permit is required for breeding and selling , but not for owning as pets . they are illegal in some states , such as california and require nearly impossible to obtain permits , though due to the wording of the regulations in ca , this might be in question if the giant rats happened to be laboratory - reared or albinos ?
many a writer since then has taken that line as a dare , yielding at least six “giant rat of sumatra” novels ( one of them featuring the hardy boys ) , references in countless other stories including “ watership down , ” a “doctor who” episode , and an extended radio - drama parody sketch by the firesign theatre troupe , issued on an album in 1974 . non - sumatran giant rats are even more common in pop culture , from h . g . wells to the latest fantasy video games , to the point that their very ubiquity merited parody in the rodents of unusual size of william goldman’s “ princess bride . ”
there are still some skeptics , even in the demining community , who won ' t trust a rat . hulsok isn ' t one of them . he ' s been looking for and clearing mines and other unexploded ordnance for more than 20 years . in the case of certain mines , he says , he ' d trust a rat over a metal detector any day .
additionally , in the students t - test comparing the savannah c . gambianus versus the forest cricetomys sp . 1 ( table 4 ) , most characters showing a difference ( p < 0 . 001 ) are those indicative of skull width : inte , zygo , pala , upda , and brca . this reinforces the view that forest - dwelling cricetomys species have slimmer snouts and are generally more slender - skulled than the giant pouched rats from the savannahs .
giant pouched rats are trained by the ngo apopo to sniff out landmines in tanzania . first , rats are put through several tests to determine whether they will be able to detect tnt and alert their handlers . with a sharp sense of smell and weighing too little to activate the mines , the rats are faster and more efficient than humans at mine detection . the animals are also being trained to scent tuberculosis . all photographs by sam jones for the guardian
weetjens b . j , mgode g . f , machang ' u r . s , kazwala r , mfinanga g , lwilla f , et al . african pouched rats for the detection of pulmonary tuberculosis in sputum samples .
africa ' s giant rats are already being used to sniff out landmines and detect tuberculosis in humans , but they soon they could turn their superior noses to protecting other animals by finding illegal wildlife trophies being smuggled out of african ports .
at this minefield , which is full of metal objects , a human with a metal detector can clear only about 20 square meters a day . a rat can clear 20 times as much .
gambian pouched rats feed on insects , snails , nuts , seeds and fruit . they are opportunistic and will eat pet food if it is available . they get their name by the way they collect food in their cheek pouches .
so yesterday , i adopted an unborn land - mine - detecting african giant pouched rat ( cricetomys gambianus ) from tanzania . did i spend 20 minutes figuring out what i was going to call it , as one of my many privileges as an adoptive parent ? you bet . it eventually came down to a character from my favourite video game , and as i figured the chosen undead would be tempting fate just a little too aggressively under the circumstances , knight solaire of astora was born . or rather , will be born in two weeks , as an email promptly informed me once i’d made my first monthly payment for my new son or daughter’s future tuition .
in dar es salaam , tanzania , every morning , a medical specialist known as chewa ( a name that means brave in swahili — but his bosses call him mchapakazi , the hard worker ) gets excited about his job . for two 40 minute sessions , punctuated by a nap and some recreational time with co - workers , he will test smears of human mucus for the presence of tuberculosis by sniffing deeply at each of 10 samples , then letting his supervisors know when he senses the disease in one . he has been taught by staff at the ngo called apopo to know tuberculosis by its smell . chewa is a 3 - pound african giant - pouched rat .
wilbard , a tuberculosis detection rat , at work in the lab . apopo’s tb rats can screen 100 samples of human sputum in 20 minutes ; the same task would take a lab technician four days
that was totally cool and disturbing . i couldn’t get the big link to work but there’s a shorter video ( 2 mins ) which also shows the rat and the ( o ) possum here :
very little is known about the breeding behavior and mating system of giant pouched rats . ewer ( 1967 ) suggests that males and females are solitary . males are larger than females and some evidence suggests that males have larger home - ranges , which suggests that the mating system is polygynous ( one male , multiple female ) . in contrast , in the lab , males appear to form selective pairbonds after mating , males may also provide superficial paternal care to offspring , and females have only a few litters throughout the year ( about 3 ) with only 1 – 4 pups per litter ( ajayi et al . , 1978 , ewer , 1967 ) . unlike most mammals , which demonstrate cyclical ovulation , ovulation in pouched rats is induced ( ewer , 1967 , malekani et al . , 2002 ) . these latter observations suggest that pouched rats could potentially adopt monogamy , or at least serial monogamy ( having only one mating partner per breeding season ) .
although many rats are lucky enough to get plenty of attention from their owners and playtime out of the cage , no owner can be with a rat 24 hours a day as another rat can . nor can any owner adjust her daily routine to entirely concide with her ratõs . rats do not sleep for 8 hours and wake for 16 like humans ; they sleep and wake throughout the day , and are most active during the night and small hours of the morning . if a rat is kept alone , it is forced to spend the best part of its day - the time when it is most playful and energetic and when it would most appreciate company - alone . if rats living together want space , they simply leave each other alone for a while . if they want company , they can have it . rats living with a companion truly have the best of both worlds . what reason could there be to deprive a rat of these opportunities ? why keep a single rat ?
in the hope of developing a viable alternative to or adjunct for microscopy , apopo is exploring the use of african giant pouched rats ( cricetomys gambianus ) to detect the presence of tb . these large and long - lived rats , which are native to much of africa and have an excellent sense of smell , detect tb by sniffing sputum samples . they are trained to respond consistently in one way ( pause ) if the sample contains the tb bacillus ( is positive ) and respond in another way ( not pause ) if the sample does not contain the bacillus ( i . e . , is negative ) . each rat can test hundreds of samples each day , allowing inexpensive testing .


tragulina is an infraorder of even-toed ungulates .

only the chevrotains survive to the present , including the genera tragulus ( the mouse deer ) and hyemoschus .

tragulina

no one has contributed data records for tragulina yet . learn how to contribute .
what made you want to look up tragulina ? please tell us where you read or heard it ( including the quote , if possible ) .
a new representative of the hypertraguloidea ( tragulina , ruminantia ) from the khoer - dzan locality in mongolia , with remarks on the relationships of the hypertragulidae . american museum novitates ; no . 3225
details - a new representative of the hypertraguloidea ( tragulina , ruminantia ) from the khoer - dzan locality in mongolia , with remarks on the relationships of the hypertragulidae . american museum novitates ; no . 3225 - biodiversity heritage library
the tragulina room is on the ground floor , spacious and equipped with a fireplace , it measures 13 m² and is equipped with a large en - suite bathroom with shower and toilet . lime and sweet tones are selected within a very relaxing and enjoyable .
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discover a faster , simpler path to publishing in a high - quality journal . plos one promises fair , rigorous peer review , broad scope , and wide readership – a perfect fit for your research every time .
integration of diverse data ( molecules , fossils ) provides the most robust test of the phylogeny of cetaceans . positioning key fossils is critical for reconstructing the character change from life on land to life in the water .
citation : spaulding m , o ' leary ma , gatesy j ( 2009 ) relationships of cetacea ( artiodactyla ) among mammals : increased taxon sampling alters interpretations of key fossils and character evolution . plos one 4 ( 9 ) : e7062 . urltoken
editor : andrew allen farke , raymond m . alf museum of paleontology , united states of america
copyright : © 2009 spaulding et al . this is an open - access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution license , which permits unrestricted use , distribution , and reproduction in any medium , provided the original author and source are credited .
funding : several grants supported this research : nsf deb - 9903964 , deb - 0210956 , deb - 0629836 , ear - 0116517 to m . a . o ' leary , along with a grant from nescent , nsf predoctoral fellowship to m . spaulding , nsf deb - 0614098 to j . flynn , and nsf deb - 9985847 , deb - 0213171 , and deb - 0212572 to j . gatesy . m . a . o ' leary ' s contribution was also prepared under award na04oar4700191 from the national oceanic and atmospheric association , us department of commerce . the funders had no role in study design , data collection and analysis , decision to publish , or preparation of the manuscript .
recent morphological ( a ) and combined morphological + molecular ( b ) hypotheses of artiodactylan phylogeny .
most cladistic analyses of morphological characters have supported monophyly of extant terrestrial artiodactylans , traditionally called artiodactyla , as well as the subclades suiformes and selenodontia . note the variable placements of the enigmatic extinct groups †raoellidae and †mesonychia in the different topologies . the deeply nested conflict between phylogenetic hypotheses for artiodactyla is shown very well by these two recent studies : for the major lineages shown , no clades are shared . lineages that connect extant taxa in the tree are represented by thick gray branches , and wholly extinct lineages are shown as thin black branches . illustrations are by c . buell and l . betti - nash .
strict consensus of 20 minimum length trees for the equally - weighted parsimony analysis of the combined data set ( 57 , 269 steps ) .
the contents of 12 taxonomic groups , including the total clades cetaceamorpha and cetancodontamorpha are delimited by different colored boxes ( ‘hippo’ = hippopotamidamorpha ) . lineages that connect extant taxa in the tree are represented by thick gray branches , and wholly extinct lineages are shown as thin black branches . estimates of branch support scores are above internodes ; given the complexity of the data set , these should be interpreted as maximum estimates . illustrations are by c . buell and l . betti - nash .
basal relationships of artiodactylamorpha are poorly resolved in the strict consensus ( figure 2 ) . four major artiodactylan clades and three extinct species form a polytomy in the strict consensus . the ungrouped species are two †anthracotheriids ( † anthracokeryx ulnifer , † microbunodon minimum ) and † gobiohyus orientalis ( a †helohyid according to [ 40 ] , and artiodactyla incertae cedis according to [ 41 ] ) . cetancodontamorpha , ruminantiamorpha , suinamorpha , and camelidamorpha contribute to this polytomy as well .
comparison of one minimum length tree with agreement subtree superimposed ( a ) and a topology that is two steps beyond minimum length ( b ) .
it is important to note that before hypotheses supporting a close relationship between †mesonychia and cetacea , †mesonychians were included in †creodonta [ 54 ] . the modern concept of †creodonta is more restricted , excludes †mesonychia , and is composed of two sub - clades : †hyaenodontidae and †oxyaenidae [ 15 ] . †creodonts , in turn , have been grouped with carnivoramorpha ( cats , dogs , and close fossil relatives ) in a more inclusive clade , ferae [ 13 ] , [ 16 ] . in our total evidence analysis †creodonta , carnivoramorpha and ferae are all supported ( figure 2 ) , and there is no support for including †mesonychia within †creodonta or ferae .
we used three different approaches to describe the stability of our phylogenetic results : branch support [ 57 ] , linked branch support [ 58 ] , and selective removal of taxa and characters ( see materials and methods ) . the first two methods summarize the net amount of character evidence for a particular clade or set of clades . the third assesses the phylogenetic impact of new taxa sampled here and provides insight into contrasting signals from different types of character data partitions .
stability of phylogenetic results to the exclusion of particular taxa from the total combined data matrix .
strict consensus of the 48 minimum length trees for the equally - weighted parsimony analysis of 606 characters observable in fossils ( 3 , 722 steps ) .
note that both selenodontia ( ruminantia + camelidae ) and suiformes ( hippopotamidae + suina ) are supported , in contrast to the total evidence analysis ( figure 2 ) . colored boxes that delimit taxonomic groups are as in figure 2 ( hippo . = hippopotamidamorpha ) .
to summarize , in the minimum length trees ( e . g . , figure 3a ) , the †raoellid † indohyus is reconstructed to have spent at least 10 % of its time in water and to have had the derived behavior of directional underwater hearing , but reconstruction of its diet is equivocal . in alternate trees that are two steps longer , parsimony recovers the same character state reconstructions for †mesonychia , because this taxon is a close relative of cetacea in slightly longer trees ( e . g . , figure 3b ) .
as discussed by [ 33 ] , [ 60 ] inferences about behavior in fossil taxa , which go beyond parsimony , can be made if there is “compelling morphological evidence” that a certain fossilized trait is strictly correlated with a certain behavior ( e . g . , distinctive coiling of the cochlea in bats indicating echolocation [ 61 ] ) . these deductions should , however , be clearly delineated from reconstructions based on parsimony . here we discuss such inferences related to diet and hearing in artiodactyla .
molars that have a tall , angular protoconid and a compressed talonid are typically associated with carnivorous diets in mammals , and molars with low - crowned , quadritubercular cusps are associated with herbivory / omnivory [ 6 ] , [ 7 ] . reconstructing behavior from fossilized tooth shape , we would infer that several cetaceamorphans ( † diacodexis , † helohyus , and † indohyus ) are herbivorous / omnivorous because they have quadritubercular teeth ( hypocone on m2 , character 419 [ 1 ] ) . it is noteworthy that prior to the description of a relatively complete † indohyus skull there were no cetaceamorphans that had both the pachyostotic ear region and quadritubercular dentition .
†mesonychia is only distantly related to artiodactyla in our shortest trees , with † indohyus grouping as a close relative to living cetaceans . however , in trees just two steps longer than minimum length , we find the more ‘traditional’ arrangement of †mesonychia positioned close to cetacea . in these trees , † indohyus is a cetaceamorphan but is not as closely related to cetacea as is †mesonychia . the lack of abundant support for either topology and the outstanding incongruence between data that fossilize and those that do not , suggests that many key fossils remain to be discovered .
the large morphological character matrix previously compiled by o ' leary and gatesy [ 1 ] included 71 taxa ( 28 extant , 43 extinct ) and 635 characters ( 310 cranial osteology , 147 dental , 123 postcranial osteology , and 55 soft - tissue / behavior ) . this data set for artiodactyla and close relatives was used as a starting point for the present analysis .
we increased morphological character sampling slightly relative to the analysis of o ' leary and gatesy [ 1 ] . approximately five morphological characters were added based upon previous systematic work on ferae [ 18 ] . this count is not exact because many characters were at first appended to the previously published matrix , but then later subsumed into existing characters once overlaps in character states were identified . delimitations of some characters in the matrix from [ 18 ] were revised based upon new information from ferae / lipotyphla . there is an overall increase of 26 morphological characters relative to our previous matrix due to the addition of characters and re - defining of previous characters .
) were added to our previously published alignments ; four mitochondrial genomes and information from 31 nuclear loci at the genbank database were added to the overall matrix . we also included additional new data from genbank that have been published since
were concatenated to the existing molecular data set . finally , 49 new sequences from five nuclear genes (
. recently deposited data in genbank and sequences from our lab generally were aligned to our previously published matrix with the introduction of very few new gaps [ e . g . , see 1 ] . however , several gene segments were re - aligned using clustalw
with gap opening cost of five and gap extension cost of 1 ; some adjacent gaps in the resulting multiple - sequence alignments were consolidated using seqapp 1 . 9a
) also were aligned in this way . the final molecular data set exceeded that of o ' leary and gatesy
by more than 5 , 500 aligned nucleotides . the 661 morphological characters were downloaded from morphobank and merged with the revised molecular matrix of 46 , 587 characters in paup * 4 . 0b10
. the total combined data set for this study has been stored at morphobank ( project # 48 ) . the main matrix in this project file is the morphology component of this study , and the total evidence nexus file is in the documents folder for this project . the nexus file records all genbank numbers for molecular sequences in the matrix . this nexus file is also available as supporting information for this article :
characters were optimized onto all minimum length trees using the map characters option in tnt [ 37 ] . for critical nodes supported by the total evidence , character state changes that mapped unequivocally onto all optimal trees were noted ; these are listed in supplementary table s1 . we also used parsimony to map characters onto suboptimal hypotheses to identify transformations that support conflicting relationships regarding †mesonychia and † indohyus .
unambiguously optimized synapomorphies for selected clades ( figure 2 ) . symbols are * , which indicates that a character state reverses in the clade and thus is not shared by all members , and # , which indicates a contradictory state found in the ‡oxyaenid ‡patriofelis .
matrix as a nexus file . matrix with both morphological and molecular information . genbank numbers of sequences are included in the file .
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kento furui added the japanese common name
マメジカ科
to
tragulidae
.
deniz martinez added the english common name
sri lankan spotted chevrotain
to
moschiola meminna ( erxleben , 1777 )
.
deniz martinez marked the classification from
iucn red list
as preferred for
moschiola
.
deniz martinez set
file : indian spotted chevrotain ( moschiola indica ) . jpg
as an exemplar on
moschiola indica
.
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full reference : w . h . flower . 1883 . on the arrangement of the orders and families of existing mammalia . proceedings of the zoological society of london 1883 : 178 - 186
parent taxon : ruminantia according to a . hassanin and e . j . p . douzery 2003
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tragulids lack antlers , but males sometimes use their enlarged , curved upper canines for fighting with each other over females . tragulids are mainly solitary , usually interacting only to mate . unlike most other artiodactyls , tragulids apparently cannot rise on their hind legs . tragulids have a mainly plant - based diet and , unusually for artiodactyls , at least some species are largely frugivorous .
only one tragulid species , balabac chevrotain ( tragulus nigricans ) , is listed as endangered on the iucn red list . some other species , however , have very limited distributions ( e . g . , silver - backed chevrotain [ t . versicolor ] in vietnam , northern chevrotain [ t . williamsoni ] in northern thailand ( and possibly laos ) and southern china , and the sri lankan moschiola species . javan chevrotain ( t . javanicus ) has lost much of its former lowland habitat and may now have a very restricted range .
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. . . gabunia ( 1964 ) erected a new species , ardynia plicidentata , from the early late oligocene benara fauna of georgia on the basis of a dp3 or dp4 and an m1 or m2 ( russell and zhai , 1987 ; lucas and emry , 1999 ; métais et al . , 2016 ) ( fig . 1 ) . ardynia plicidentata was diagnosed by the wrinkled enamel in the area of the crochet , but radinsky ( 1967 ) regarded wrinkled enamel as a variable character and referred these specimens to ardynia sp . . . .
. . . the benara locality has also yielded the ruminants lophiomeryx benaraensis and prodremotherium trepidum , as well as rhinocerotoids , an entelodontid , anthracotheres , and carnivores ( gabunia , 1964 ) . several taxa among the rhinos and anthracotheres are common in the early oligocene deposits of asia and europe ( lucas and emry , 1999 ) . although much less documented , the kızılırmak formation has not yielded taxa with an early oligocene age . . . .
. . . flerowi mp22 - 24 , kazakhstan ) and benara ( p . trepidum mp23 , georgia ) ( trofimov 1957 ; gabunia 1964 ; vislobokova 1997 ; lucas & emry 1999 ; m etais & vislobokova 2007 ) . no direct observations by the authors support the attribution of these asian species to this genus . . . .
. . . years in italics indicate a work without description or illustration . i , lower incisive ; c , lower canine ; p , lower premolar ; m , type species—iberomeryx parvus gabunia 1964 , from benara ( georgia ) , early oligocene ( mp23 ; lucas & emry 1999 ) . other species referred to the genus—iberomeryx minor ( filhol 1882 ) , early oligocene of western europe . . . .
. . . large premolars collected in the ferruginous duricrust j1 indicate the presence of a large entelodontid tentatively referred to paraentelodon sp . this genus has been reported from several early oligocene localities in central asia ( lucas and emry , 1999 ) , where it is commonly associated with the giant rhinocerotoid paraceratherium . the entelodont specimens from the bugti hills constitute the first occurrence of the family in the indian subcontinent , as oligocene asian entelodonts are otherwise known only from central asia and mongolia . . . .
. . . in term of first occurrence of mammal taxa , the base of the suevian could be seen equally at the level of mp 22 as discussed by hooker et al . ( 2004 ) . most authors ( heissig , 1993 , ducrocq , 1995 , sudre , 1995 , 1996 , astruc et al . , 2003 ) considered the mammal level mp 21 as the beginning of the suevian based on the first occurrence of asian immigrants such as the bothriodontine anthracotheriids bothriodon , bunobrachyodus ( = elomeryx ) , and the enteledontid entelodon ( lucas & emry 1999 ) . level mp 21 also corresponds to the first appearance of taxa with supposed local ancestors such as the gelocid pseudogelocus and the dichobunid metriotherium . . . .
. . . ' ' inward ' ' lateral facing crown surfaces have been described as lingual in hadrosaurids ( rodriguez - de la rosa and cevallos - ferriz , 1998 ) . ' ' outward ' ' and ' ' inward ' ' facing lateral crown surfaces have been described as either being external and internal or labial and lingual in theropods ( dong , 1997a ) ; as lateral and internal in sauropods ( dong , 1997b ) ; as labial and lingual in artiodactyls ( lucas and emry , 1999 ) , cervids ( azanza and montoya , 1995 ) , insectivores ( x . wang and zhai , 1995 ) , marsupials ( cifelli and de muizon , 1998 ) , armadillos ( vizcaíno and bargo , 1998 ) , feliforms ( albright , 1996 ) , theropods ( hutt et al . , 1996 ; kellner and campos , 1996 ; charig and milner , 1997 ) , ornithischians ( dong , 1997c ) , sauropods ( upchurch , 1999 ) , and osteichthyians ( kemp , 1997 ) . . . .
on some spiral - horned antelopes ( mammalia : artiodactyla : bovidae ) from the late miocene of turkey , w . . .
zusammenfassung die untersuchung von material aus einigen aufsammlungen an mehreren türkischen obermiozän - lokalitäten ermöglichte erstmals die endgültige bestimmung und beschreibung spiral - gehörnter antilopen dieses landes : palaeoreas lindermayeri , protragelaphus skouzesi , prostrepsiceros zitteli undnisidorcas sp . mehrere endemische arten sind während des tiefen obermiozäns auf . . . [ show full abstract ]
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franciscana or la plata dolphin ( lives in costal waters and estuaries in s . america )
s . asian river dolphin , once though to be two species ( ganges and indus ) but really just subspecies , found in india , pakistan , bangladesh , nepal .