Ancient Buffalo-Sized Rodent Used Its Giant Incisors to Dig and Fight
Posted on February 5, 2015
Josephoartigasia monesi was the largest rodent that ever lived. The buffalo-sized rodent had a body mass of about 1000 kilogram (2204 pounds). The rodent lived in South America about 3 million years ago. Josephoartigasia had enormous front teeth. Researchers have determined that the giant guinea pig ancestor used its giant incisors to bite and fight.
Scientists from the University of York and The Hull York Medical School (HYMS) used computer modeling the determine that the powerful bite of Josephoartigasia was similar to that of a tiger at 1400 N. However, they also found that the incisors would have been able to withstand forces of three times the maximum bite force.
Dr Philip Cox, of the Center for Anatomical and Human Sciences at HYMS, says in a statement, "We concluded that Josephoartigasia must have used its incisors for activities other than biting, such as digging in the ground for food, or defending itself from predators. This is very similar to how a modern day elephant uses its tusks."
The research involved making a virtual reconstruction of the ancient rodent's skull using CT scanning. The skull reconstruction was then subjected to finite element analysis, which is an engineering technique that helps predict the stress and strain in a complex geometric object, such as a skull. An image of the digital reconstruction of the skull is pictured above. A research paper on the bite fore of was published here in the Journal of Anatomy.
