National Museum of Natural Science

This is the largest rat species in Taiwan, weighing up to one kilogram. Along its back are long, fluffy-looking, black hairs, which are hard and coarse to the touch. The tail is very thick with obvious scales. The greater bandicoot rat mainly inhabits wilderness and farmland at low-elevations in Taiwan and feeds on roots and stems. These large rats gnaw on crops and often gather in large numbers in paddies and sugar cane fields, where they dig burrows. As these rats are large and plump, in the past farmers would catch them during harvest season. They were sold as meat in shops specializing in mountain products.

Text/Chen Yan-Jun, Chen Mu-Xuan

Photo/Huang Xiao-Ting

Greater bandicoot rat