When can you start calling a rodent “giant?” When it’s twice the average size of its species? When you’re not grossed out by it? When it could be a mascot for a family fun center? We don’t really have a precise answer to that… but this week, we’re exploring the science of big ol’ rodents! Turns out, giant rodents have shaped the environment in lots of ways, from ancient megafauna stomping through South American wetlands to beavers affecting the climate. And even though they sound kind of scary, giant rats might be able to save human lives. But the real question is: what’s up with capybara anal pouches?
Sources:
[Truth or Fail]
https://www.apopo.info/en/tuberculosis-detection/projects
http://www.treatmentactiongroup.org/tb/background
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/feb/23/rats-who-sniff-out-tubersulosis
[Fact Off]
Hippos & biggest rodent:
Beavers & carbon emissions:
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-08/uoh-bha082918.php
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2013/07/what-role-do-beavers-play-climate-change
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs13280-014-0575-y
[Ask the Science Couch]
Gigantism:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-king-kong-should-have-been-blue-whale-180962603/
https://www.nature.com/articles/482008d
https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1469-1795.2012.00534.x
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4358651/
[Butt One More Thing]
Capybara anal pouches:
https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1984.tb05087.x