Ratzilla: Ancient giant rodent chomped like a crocodile

An immense, bison-sized rodent that lived in northern South America about 3 million years ago may have used its thicker-than-your-thumb front teeth much like a modern-day elephant uses its tusks, a new study suggests.


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Known only from its 53-centimeter-long skull and described less than a decade ago, Josephoartigasia monesi is the largest fossil rodent yet discovered and may have weighed a metric ton (see artist’s conception above).


Now, researchers using sophisticated software (the same sort employed to analyze stresses in aircraft parts) have estimated the bite forces the creature might have generated when it chewed. First, the scientists used a CT scanner to create a detailed model of the fossil skull; then they added a model of a lower jaw scaled up from a chinchilla, a close modern-day relative.


Simulations suggest that at the rearmost tooth in the jaw, J. monesi’s bite forces measured about 4165 newtons, or about three times higher than those estimated for tigers and midsized crocodiles


http://news.sciencemag.org/biology/2015/02/ratzilla-ancient-giant-rodent-chomped-crocodile