Hippo sized rat fossil discovered in Uruguay, Rat Hippo or Hippo Rat?

Largest fossil rodent species Josephoartigasia monesi, discovered in Uruguay, with an estimated body mass of one tonne.

The fossilised skull of a one tonne rat the size of a hippopotamus has been unearthed in South America.

The creature, nicknamed Mighty Mouse, is believed to have lived around 4 million years ago, weighed about a tonne and ate mostly soft vegetation. It was so big that it probably spent much of its life semi-submerged in water, like a hippo, to reduce the stresses caused by its vast size. Its skull was discovered in a boulder that fell away from a cliff in the San Jose region of Uruguay.

However, the importance of the find was not immediately realised and the fossil was stored in the Montevideo national history museum for many years.

Known by its Latin name, Josephoartigasia monesi, the vegetarian rat looked like a cross between a guinea pig and a beaver. The rodent was estimated to be around three metres (10ft) long and 1.5 metres tall.

Tiny thumb-sized colorful bats discovered

Tiny bats were discovered this week at Wang Takian subdistrict in Chachoengsao province which were previously unknown to local residents.

Paitoon Tronglim, a 35-year-villager, told reporters that around 6pm on Monday, he found a group of strange bats with golden yellow fur along the bodies and black skin on the back of the wings.

The bat 's body size was about that of a human thumb, around four centimetres long. The length from wing tip to left tip when extended was about 20 centimetres.

The villager said he had earlier seen the bats flying around the area but this was the first time he had managed to capture two bat specimens after they hid inside a rolled banana leaf. He said that the colour of the bats was different from common varieties which are black or brown, and he wanted to know to what species the bats belong.

The Bumblebee Bat, also known as Kitti's Hog-nosed Bat, is the world's smallest species of bat at 30-40 mm in length and weighing approximately 2 grammes.