Giant rat

The name giant rat has been applied to various species of large rats (or animals that appear similar to large rats) and may refer to:

Africa

• Gambian pouched rat, Cricetomys gambianus
• Giant pouched rat, genus Cricetomys
• Malagasy giant rat, Hypogeomys antimena

Asia and New Guinea

• Flores giant rat, Papagomys armandvillei
• Mountain giant Sunda rat, Sundamys infraluteus
• Giant cloud rats, southern giant slender-tailed cloud rat Phloeomys cumingi and northern Luzon giant cloud rat Phloeomys pallidus
• White-eared giant rats, western white-eared giant rat, Hyomys dammermani and eastern white-eared giant rat Hyomys goliath
• Woolly rats, genus Mallomys
• Large bamboo rat, Rhizomys sumatrensis

South America

• Coypu, nutria, or river rat,. Myocastor coypus
• Capybara, genus Hydrochoerus
• Woolly giant rat, Kunsia tomentosus

Extinct species

• East Timor giant rat, an extinct species, genus Coryphomys
• Tenerife giant rat, an extinct species, Canariomys bravoi
• Fossorial giant rat, Kunsia fronto

Fictional characters

• The Giant Rat of Sumatra, a giant rat featured in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle

See also

• Gigantism, the phenomenon of animals to grow to giant sizes relative to their species
• Rat