It's not a rat after all!

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Monday, July 02, 2012

It was labelled the giant mummified Tai Tapu rat - but it wan't one at all.

The Broomhall family's dog was found playing with an animal carcass on the lawn last week.

A vet originally identified the creature as a 730 millimetre-long rat. Its skin was intact, and it still had its whiskers.

Since then, several experts, including zoologists and other veterinarians, have stated it is actually a dried out, normal-sized possum.

"I'm 99.99 per cent sure it's a possum," says zoologist and retired Canterbury Museum vertebrates curator Geoff Tunnicliffe.

"The lower teeth are almost parallel while rodents' teeth are much more vertical, and the tail is so robust. In rodents, the teeth are really close up and gaps between the teeth are generally never found in rodents.''

Landcare Research spokesman said the hind feet of the animal didn't look right for a rat and the tail was also curled, which indicated it was a possum rather than a rodent.

Christchurch veterinarian Eduardo Bernardi wrote: ''Rats have only two upper incisors, as opposed to the four we can see in the picture and no canines, which are clearly showing in the mummified specimen."

The Broomhall family are very pleased the creature turned out to be a possum and can now rest assured, they don't have to deal with giant rats on their property!