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Rodents of Unusual Size

Posted by michael on from the world's-largest-hamster-wheel dept.

lowy writes "The New York Times has a story (free registration, blah, blah) reporting that paleontologists are claiming they have a nearly complete skeleton of a 1500-pound distant relative of the guinea pig. Would Westley and Buttercup have made it through the Fire Swamp if the R.O.U.S's were this big?"

19 of 51 comments (clear)

  1. that's a lot of Italian pork, my friends by Dancin_Santa · · Score: 2, Funny

    Nothing better than guinea pig sausages before going out on the daily hunt.

  2. Of Course they would ... by altp · · Score: 4, Funny

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    Would Westley and Buttercup have made it through the Fire Swamp if the R.O.U.S's were this big?
    --

    Of course, I don't think they really exist.

  3. See also... by keesh · · Score: 5, Informative

    From the bbc... No registration required

  4. Unusual size by morcheeba · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Ha ha! I just watched that movie and then heard the story on NPR, and didn't make the connection.

    They said that the legs of the huge creature were built like the legs of other rodents - designed for burrowing, and not for running. They said that usually animals have one of two escape mechanisms - either burrow (like mice), or run (like most big creatures). They thought this guy would be evolutionary challenged because there aren't many holes big enough for a 6-foot rat to escape into. (lame richard gere jokes aside)

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    HIV Crosses Species Barrier... into Muppets
  5. In Related News by Samus · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The US Olympic commitee has ordered Nebraska Wesleyan University to stop using the name Rat Olympics in their annual behavioral learning rat competition because it infringes on their name. Seems to me that name olympics far preceeds even this countries founding. The USOC has gone too far yet again.

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    In Republican America phones tap you.
  6. The Princess Bride by RedWolves2 · · Score: 5, Funny
    The Princess Bride is one of my favorite Drinking games. You will get drunk within the first five minutes of the movie.

    Drinking Game Rules:
    When you hear a predetermined word or phrase, you must drink. Here are some of the catch phrases you MUST use for optimum enjoyment of this game:

    Farmboy

    As you wish.

    Buttercup

    Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die.

    Inconceivable

    True love.

    Mawige.

    Humperdink

    Man in black.

    Boo!

    Rodents of unusual size

    you truly have a dizzying intellect. Wait till I get going!

    What's so funny? I'll tell you in a minute.

    ...and dream of large women.

    hahahahahahahahahahaha... (thud)

    I am not left-handed!

    I'm not left-handed either!

    Life is pain, highness...anyone that says otherwise is selling something.

    Ever heard of Aristotle? Socrates? Yes. Morons.

    Anybody want a peanut?

    My way isn't sportsmanlike.

    It is important to drink when ANY character says these catch phrases, as they occur in many places, even in the narration. You'll find that they occur more frequently than you might think.

  7. Or, this non-reg link by scootr1 · · Score: 4, Informative

    ..to the UK's Independent:

    link

  8. Straight from the horse-sized rodent's mouth by RobertB-DC · · Score: 3, Informative

    If you don't like registration, just search news.google.com with appropriate keywords, and Voila! Horse-sized Rodents!

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    Stressed? Me? Of course not. Stress is what a rubber band feels before it breaks, silly.
  9. Re:Rodents of unusual size by Anonymous+Codger · · Score: 4, Informative

    "Guinea pigs aren't rodents, they are cavies"

    Just checked Britannica. A guinea pig is a cavy, and a cavy is a rodent "belonging to the family Caviidae (order Rodentia)".

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    No sig? Sigh...
  10. Capybara anecdote by ballpoint · · Score: 3, Interesting
    The capybara is a pretty big rodent too.

    I saw and ate them when I was in Venezuela. Driving around we went to a steak house. Our ordering of a big steak was met with despise from the waiter. Oh yes, it was Good Friday and, Venezuela being a very Catholic country, they didn't want to serve meat.

    Capybara was ok, however. They consider it to be a fish since it lives in swamps.

    I didn't like it too much though; the meat is rather tasteless and fibery.

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    Flourescent (adj): smelling like ground wheat.
  11. Rodents of Unusual Size? by Skeezix · · Score: 3, Funny

    I don't think they exist.

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    Celebrate the finer things in life
  12. The only answer: by cybermace5 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Would Westley and Buttercup have made it through the Fire Swamp if the R.O.U.S's were this big?

    INCONCEIVABLE!!!

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    ...
    1. Re:The only answer: by gooberguy · · Score: 2, Funny

      You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means.

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      Karma: Meh (Mostly from meh.)
  13. Um... by Elwood+P+Dowd · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'm a 180 lbs distant relative of a guinea pig.

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    There are no trails. There are no trees out here.
  14. Re:Rodents of unusual size by barakn · · Score: 4, Informative
    Hippos aren't pachyderms. They are in the order Artiodactyla, which also has the pigs, deer, camelids, giraffes, bovines (cows, sheep, goats, buffalo, etc.), and the pronghorn antelope. The horse is in the order Perissodactyla, which also includes tapirs and rhinos. Elephants are in their own order, Proboscidea. The closest living relative of the elephant is probably (debated by some) the hyrax (order Hyracoidea), a small guinea pig-like animal that you probably confused with the guinea pig. Also distantly related to the elephant is the order Sirenia, manatees and dugongs.

    Thanks for trying to confuse the issue. Who the hell modded you informative?

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    "I'm so moist I'm sticking to the leather." -Kermit the Frog on The Late Late Show
  15. Re:Princess bride references ++; by barakn · · Score: 3, Informative

    Nope. Rabbits/hares and pikas comprise the order Lagomorpha, but they occupy separate families, the Leporidae and the Ochotonidae.

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    "I'm so moist I'm sticking to the leather." -Kermit the Frog on The Late Late Show
  16. What, no one's done it yet? by La+Temperanza · · Score: 2, Funny

    I, for one, welcome our new guinea pig overlords.

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    est modus in rebus
  17. Re:Rodents of unusual size by meiocyte · · Score: 2, Informative

    Is the guinea-pig a rodent?

    No, the guinea-pig is not a rodent.

    It seems that Nature is really into guinea-pigs!
    This is a better writeup than the New York Times article, by the way. Although it does refer to them as rodents.

    While I'm whoring, this page ought to settle some of the phylogenetic fracas here.

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    The thing in the box has no place in the language-game at all; not even as a something; for the box might even be empty.
  18. Ooh, Jesus Christ by Xenothaulus · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's Lemmiwinks's great*10^32 uncle.