Flores Giant Rat

In 'The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire', published in 1924, Sherlock Holmes already made a passing remark about the Flores Giant Rat (Papagomys armandvillei). Holmes mentions to Watson the name of a ship, the Matilda Briggs, “which is associated with the giant rat of Sumatra, a story for which the world is not yet prepared.”

News travelled quickly, even in those days, because the Flores Giant Rat was only described in literature in 1892. Arthur Conan Doyle was certainly keeping up to date with his knowledge of science. I can understand that Doyle changed the little known island of Flores for one of the larger Indonesian islands for literature's sake.

The Flores giant rat is a rodent of the family Muridae that occurs solely on the island of Flores in Indonesia. It has been recorded in the almost impenetrable Rutong Protection Forest. The species is found in primary, secondary and disturbed forest over a wide range of elevations.

Its length from nose to bottom is around 45 centimetres with an added tail length not exceeding 70 centimetres. The total length therefore is 115 centimetres, making it al least twice as large as those of a typical brown rat (Rattus norvegicus), which suggests about eight times the body mass.

The Flores Giant Rat is described as having small, round ears, a chunky body and a relatively small tail, and as appearing to be adapted for life on the ground with refuge in burrows. It has dense dark hair. Analysis of the teeth suggests a diet of leaves, buds, fruit, and certain kinds of insects.

The Flores Giant Rat is probably the only extant species in the genus Papagomys. The specific epithet, armandvillei, honours the Dutch Jesuit missionary Cornelis J. F. le Cocq d'Armandville (1846-1896) who was stationed in the Dutch East Indies, and later on New Guinea.

A related species, Papagomys theodorverhoeveni, is only known from subfossil remains from 3,000 to– 4,000 years ago. This species is presumed to be extinct, but may still exist on the island.