It is hard to guess what a Gambian pouched rat weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Gambian pouched rat (Cricetomys gambianus) on average weights 1.27 kg (2.8 lbs).
The Gambian pouched rat is from the family Muridae (genus: Cricetomys). It is usually born with about 22 grams (0.05 lbs). When reaching adult age, they grow up to 36.3 cm (1′ 3″). On average, Gambian pouched rats can have babies 2 times per year with a litter size of 3.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
The Gambian pouched rat (Cricetomys gambianus), also known as the African giant pouched rat, is a nocturnal pouched rat of the giant pouched rat genus Cricetomys, and is among the largest muroids in the world, growing up to about 0.9 metres (3 ft) long including their tail which makes up half their length. It is widespread in Sub-Saharan Africa, ranging geographically from Senegal to Kenya and from Angola to Mozambique (although it is absent from much of the DR Congo, where Emin’s pouched rat is present) and in altitude from sea level to 2,000 metres (6,600 ft).The animals are sometimes kept as pets, but some have escaped from captivity and become an invasive species in Florida. The CDC and FDA in the US now ban the importation of this species. It is also blamed for an outbreak of monkeypox.
Animals of the same family as a Gambian pouched rat
We found other animals of the Muridae family:
- Cape gerbil with a weight of 92 grams
- Bushy-tailed hairy-footed gerbil with a weight of 35 grams
- Bushy-tailed woodrat with a weight of 286 grams
- Indian gerbil with a weight of 138 grams
- Silent grass mouse with a weight of 39 grams
- Abrothrix longipilis with a weight of 38 grams
- Webb’s tufted-tailed rat with a weight of 61 grams
- Townsend’s vole with a weight of 52 grams
- Mindanao montane forest mouse with a weight of 34 grams
- Social vole with a weight of 48 grams
Animals with the same weight as a Gambian pouched rat
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Cricetomys gambianus:
- Alexander’s kusimanse with a weight of 1.5 kilos (3.31 lbs)
- Rothschild’s cuscus with a weight of 1.37 kilos (3.02 lbs)
- Banded palm civet with a weight of 1.27 kilos (2.8 lbs)
- European pine marten with a weight of 1.3 kilos (2.87 lbs)
- Nabarlek with a weight of 1.4 kilos (3.09 lbs)
- Sumatran striped rabbit with a weight of 1.51 kilos (3.33 lbs)
- Common kusimanse with a weight of 1.39 kilos (3.06 lbs)
- Menzies’ echymipera with a weight of 1.2 kilos (2.65 lbs)
- Southern three-banded armadillo with a weight of 1.32 kilos (2.91 lbs)
- Rufous hare-wallaby with a weight of 1.41 kilos (3.11 lbs)
Animals with the same size as a Gambian pouched rat
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Gambian pouched rat:
- Black capuchin with a size of 43.5 cm (1′ 6″)
- Moonrat with a size of 32.7 cm (1′ 1″)
- European rabbit with a size of 40 cm (1′ 4″)
- Pale fox with a size of 43 cm (1′ 5″)
- Brown greater galago with a size of 30.7 cm (1′ 1″)
- Manzano Mountain cottontail with a size of 38.5 cm (1′ 4″)
- Mountain cuscus with a size of 40.7 cm (1′ 5″)
- Weyland ringtail possum with a size of 31 cm (1′ 1″)
- Long-footed potoroo with a size of 35.9 cm (1′ 3″)
- Red acouchi with a size of 36.3 cm (1′ 3″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Gambian pouched rat
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (3) as a Gambian pouched rat: