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LONDON — Uruguayan scientists say they have uncovered fossil evidence of the biggest species of rodent ever found, one that scurried across wooded areas of South America about 4 million years ago, when the continent was not connected to North America. An herbivore, the beast may have been a contemporary, and possibly prey, of saber-toothed cats.
Its huge skull, more than 20 inches long, suggested a beast more than 8 feet long and weighing between 1,700 and 3,000 pounds.
Although British newspapers variously described it as a mouse or a rat, researchers say the animal, named Josephoartigasia monesi, actually was more closely related to a guinea pig or porcupine.
