Giant pouched rat

Giant pouched rats belong to the genus Cricetomys. They are large muroid rodents found in sub-Saharan Africa. These animals are famous for their large cheek pouches. These pouches allow them to carry food easily. They are nocturnal, which means they are active during the night. They are also omnivores. This means their diet includes both vegetation and small animals. They have a particular taste for palm nuts and insects.

Scientists have changed how they classify these animals. For a long time, they were placed in the family Muridae. This is the same family as true rats. However, recent molecular studies have changed this view. These studies place them in the family Nesomyidae. This family is part of an ancient radiation of African and Malagasy muroids. There are several distinct species within this genus. The Gambian pouched rat lives from Senegal to Kenya and from Angola to Mozambique. The Southern giant pouched rat lives in Zimbabwe, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Kivu giant pouched rat lives in Southern Africa. Finally, Emin's pouched rat lives in Tropical Africa and Madagascar.

These rats have a very high reproductive rate. Females can produce up to 10 litters every year. The gestation period, or the time the young grow inside the mother, lasts between 27 and 36 days. When the young are born, there are usually between one and five at a time. The mothers typically have between six and eight nipples to feed them.

Some of these rats are trained to perform life-saving work. They are known as HeroRATs. This training was developed by a Belgian man named Bart Weetjens. A nonprofit social venture called APOPO is responsible for training them in Tanzania. The training begins when the rats are only four weeks old. At this age, handlers touch them to help them get used to humans. They also expose the rats to many different sights and sounds. The rats learn to associate a clicker sound with a food reward. They are often given banana or banana-peanut paste as a treat.

After they learn the basics, the rats begin specific scent training. They learn to nose a hole containing TNT for five seconds. This helps them identify the scent of explosives. They then practice finding the correct hole among a line of many holes. Eventually, they learn to wear a harness and practice outdoors on a lead. They practice finding inactive mines hidden under the soil. To finish their training, they must pass a blind test. They must find all the mines in an area seeded with inactive mines. The handlers do not know where the mines are during this test. If they succeed, they are certified as bomb-sniffing rats. These rats are safe because they are light enough not to trigger antipersonnel mines.

HeroRATs also help detect the disease tuberculosis. They do this by sniffing sputum samples for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. These rats are much faster than traditional laboratory methods. A rat can test 100 samples in only 20 minutes. A laboratory technician using conventional microscopy might take up to four days to do the same work. The rats are also very accurate. In secondary screenings, they reassess 52% of initially negative tests as being positive. In some cases, the rats detected the disease before clinical tests could. They have been used to screen for the disease in Tanzania and Ethiopia.

Humans have many different relationships with these rodents. In many African countries, they are valued as an important food item. They can also be easily tamed to be kept as pets. However, they have also caused concerns regarding health. In 2003, they were associated with an outbreak of monkeypox in the USA. Because of this, they are now banned from being imported into the United States. Despite these complexities, their ability to detect scent makes them incredible tools for human safety.