Flores giant rat

The Flores giant rat (Papagomys armandvillei) is a rodent of the family Muridae that occurs on the island of Flores in Indonesia, and it has been recorded in Rutong Protection Forest. It lives in primary, secondary and disturbed forest over a wide range of elevations. Its head and body length is 41 to 45 centimetres and its tail length is 33 to 70 centimetres, roughly twice the dimensions of a typical brown rat, and its body mass has been estimated at 1.2 to 2.5 kilograms, comparable to a rabbit. It is the only extant species in the genus Papagomys, and the epithet armandvillei honours the Dutch Jesuit missionary Cornelis Johann Le Cocq d'Armandville. Analysis of its large teeth suggests a diet of leaves, buds, fruit and certain insects. It is listed as Near Threatened, with subsistence hunting and predation by dogs and cats among the threats, and has been suggested as prey of the extinct dwarf human Homo floresiensis.