Volcano Rat Video: World's Largest Rat Found In Volcano Carter

by Annina Bergman | September 7, 2009 at 08:12 am

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Volcanic Find: Giant Rat Species Discovery

A BBC film crew has discovered a giant rat living in a volcano in Papua New Guinea. The rat measured 82 cm (32.3 inches) from nose to tail and weighs 1.5 kg.

The BBC team was filming Lost Land of the Volcano when they stumbled upon the rat. The rat shows no fear of humans, and lives only within the Mount Bosavi crater. It is what is called a "true" rat, that is, belongs to the genus Rattus, just like the rats that live in the cities among humans.

"This is one of the world's largest rats. It is a true rat, the same kind you find in the city sewers," says Dr Kristofer Helgen, a mammalogist based at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History who accompanied the BBC expedition team.

Mount Bosavi is an extinguished volcano i Papua New Guinea, with 1 km high walls around it that trap the creatures that live inside it. Papua New Guinea is famous for having a high number of species, especially rats and mice.