the giant rat of sumatra is a fictional giant rat, first mentioned by arthur conan doyle in a 1924 sherlock holmes story, and later used in works by many other writers. ==original reference== in "the adventure of the sussex vampire", first published in the january 1924 issues of the strand magazine in london and hearst's international magazine in new york,christopher redmond, sherlock holmes handbook: second edition (dundurn, 2009), isbn 978-1554884469, pp. 35-36. excerpts available at google books. doyle has sherlock holmes declare, as an aside, to dr. watson: :matilda briggs was not the name of a young woman, watson, ... it was a ship which is associated with the giant rat of sumatra, a story for which the world is not yet prepared. how the ship, the mammal, and the indonesian island are associated is not specified. there are a number of species of large rats on sumatra, with one, sundamys infraluteus, actually being referred to as the "giant rat of sumatra",bayard webster, "team dispels sherlock holmes mystery", the new york times, november 1, 1983. and another giant rat, of the mallomys family and discovered in 2007 in the foja mountains of papua, has also been compared to holmes's animal.patrick j. lyons, "the giant rat of sumatra, alive and well", the new york times, december 17, 2007. rats commonly colonise ships, and so there is an obvious line of speculation. holmesianist alan saunders has argued that the reference is in fact to events connected with "the adventure of the dying detective", although he identifies the rat as the large bamboo rat.the sumatran devil ==in sherlockiana==  a number of authors of sherlockiana have endeavoured to supply the missing adventure of the giant rat of sumatra. these tales include: * in the spider woman (1944), nigel bruce's watson briefly reflects on the giant rat of sumatra when looking through a scrapbook of old cases. * in pursuit to algiers (1945), a holmes film starring basil rathbone and nigel bruce, watson tells the story of the giant rat of sumatra to an audience on board a ship. * the tale of the giant rat of sumatra, a 1974 comedy album by the firesign theatre (lp columbia kc32730) is a pastiche with protagonists he
Fictional_mice_and_rats Mythological_rodents Sherlock_Holmes