A huge number of different species of rodents live in the world, and surprisingly diverse. Among them are very tiny creatures, and quite large ones. Some of them are eaten in distant lands, others are kept as pets, while still others are pests that people are actively fighting. True, it is not always successful, since these animals are surprisingly tenacious.
Porcupines also belong to rodents. And one of their species, living mainly in Malaysia, is a record holder for longevity – an officially registered record is as long as 27 years. Beavers are found in heraldry more often than most other animals. And they also relate to rodents. Hamsters are not only cute and funny pets. Mexican hamsters, for example, are aggressive small predators. They prey on their prey at night. The sense of smell in rats is sharper than in any other rodent. An adult rat has about 100 thousand receptors in its nose, which allow it to feel toxic substances in a piece of food, even if the poison in food is only about 0.001%. Some rodents can easily hunt others.
Many of them have amazingly strong teeth. They are able to withstand pressure up to 0.5 tons per 1 square centimeter of surface. In cities, the number of rats is higher than the number of people living there. The number of teeth in rodents, depending on the species, varies from 12 to 22. Even in hares, they are not 4, as some believe, but much more. The stony proteins found in North America can go without water for up to 3 months, since they get almost all the moisture they need from the food they eat. The hare is the fastest rodent on the planet. When running, this animal is capable of speeds up to 72 kilometers per hour. On the money of different countries, sometimes different rodents are depicted. For example, in Canada, an image of a beaver was used, and in Belarus – a hare.
Rodents are addicted to alcohol, like humans. Simply put, they can become real alcoholics if given the opportunity. Rodents cause the most damage in Asia, regularly busting rice storages and rice fields. African dwarf African mice are the smallest rodents in the world. The average body length of an adult usually does not exceed three centimeters. The first rodents appeared on our planet about 60 million years ago. Ultrasound-emitting devices that people cannot hear are used to deter some rodent pests. For example, mice can be scared off in this way, but rats do not react to ultrasound in any way.
Once upon a time, extinct rodents of the species Josephoartigasia monesi were the largest of all that ever existed on Earth. They grew up to three meters in length and reached one and a half meters in height at the withers, and outwardly resembled the capybaras that now live in South America. One of the criteria that all rodents possess is the presence of at least one pair of teeth growing throughout life, both on the lower and upper jaw. Since their teeth grow continuously, they need to constantly nibble something to grind them. Otherwise, the teeth will reach such a size that the animal will not be able to eat, and as a result will die of hunger. The aforementioned capybaras are the largest of the living rodents. Adult capybara can grow up to 1.3 meters in length.
