Prehistoric humans lived with small dog-sized mice

If you are one of those who are scared to death of mice, even the smallest, thank heaven for not being born in prehistory! According to Mindy Weisberger of the Live Science portal, researchers at the National University of Australia presented a study in which they found that humans lived with "mice" ten times larger than current specimens.

According to Mindy, paleontologists evaluated the fossils of seven species of giant rats that were collected in East Timor, and analyzes indicated that the animals appeared between 1 and 2 million years ago. As the researchers explained, these are the largest rats ever discovered, and they lived on the island until approximately a thousand years ago.

Companions

Interestingly, there is evidence that there was human occupation at the place 46, 000 years ago, and scientists believe that the mice not only lived with the ancient peoples who inhabited the island but also went to their "dishes" as well.

The larger specimens were said to be the size of a dachshund and probably weighed about five pounds. In addition, the researchers concluded that humans ate rats because the fossils show signs of cuts and fire.

According to Mindy, paleontologists estimate that giant mice and humans coexisted for thousands of years until, for some reason, those rodents disappeared. The researchers found that the decline in population coincided with the introduction of the first metal tools and, consequently, with the onset of destruction of much of the forest in which the mice lived.

Thus, one hypothesis is that the giant mice were extinct due to human migration and their intervention in their habitat for the development of agriculture on the island. However, paleontologists need to gather more evidence to find out what really caused these rodents to disappear.

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