The Flores Giant Rat (Papagomys armandvillei) is a rodent of the family Muridae that occurs on the island of Flores in Indonesia. It is found in primary, secondary and disturbed forest over a wide range of elevations. Head and body length is 41–45 cm (16.1–17.7 in.) and tail length is 33–70 cm (13–27.5 in.), making the Flores giant rat at least twice the size of an average Brown Rat (Rattus norvegicus) with a 25 cm long body and 15 cm long tail. It is the only extant species in the genus Papagomys.
Guy Musser describes the rats as having small, round ears, a chunky body and a small tail, and that the giant rat of Flores appears to be adapted for life on the ground and refuge in burrows. The rat has dense dark hair (pelage). Analysis of the teeth of the Flores Giant Rat suggests that the rat has a diet of leaves, buds, fruit, and certain kinds of insect as inferred by large hypsodont teeth.
P. armandvillei is listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN Red List. Threats include subsistence hunting and predation by dogs and cats. A related species, P. theodorverhoeveni, is known from subfossil remains from 3,000 – 4,000 years ago. This species is presumed to be extinct, but may still exist on the island.
Famous quotes containing the words flores, giant and/or rat:
“At Flores in the Azores Sir Richard Grenville lay,
And a pinnace, like a fluttered bird, came flying from far away:
‘Spanish ships of war at sea! we have sighted fifty-three!’”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)
“The giant was hairy, the giant was horrid,
He had one eye in the middle of his forehead.”
—Ogden Nash (1902–1971)
“It is restful, tragedy, because one knows that there is no more lousy hope left. You know you’re caught, caught at last like a rat with all the world on its back. And the only thing left to do is shout—not moan, or complain, but yell out at the top of your voice whatever it was you had to say. What you’ve never said before. What perhaps you don’t even know till now.”
—Jean Anouilh (1910–1987)