Fossil of 30 kg rodent from 35 million years ago discovered in Thailand

Detailed summary

A rodent weighing about 30 kg lived in what is now southern Thailand some 34 million to 35 million years ago, a study of fossil teeth from a coal mine in Krabi Province shows.

The species, named Yakamys sirindhornae, is described in a paper published in the journal Scientific Reports by researchers from Thailand's Department of Mineral Resources and colleagues in France and Canada. The lead author is Yaowalak Chaimanee, a mammal paleontologist at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS).

Announcing the find on Nov. 4, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suchart Chomklin said it was the largest rodent yet discovered from the Paleogene period, which ran from about 66 million to 23 million years ago, Khaosod English reported.

The researchers said the discovery shows rodents evolved toward larger body sizes 15 million to 20 million years earlier than previously understood, the Bangkok Post reported.

The animal is known from just two teeth, a lower second molar and a fragment of a lower incisor, found close together in a clay layer within the…

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