It is hard to guess what a Mechow’s mole-rat weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Mechow’s mole-rat (Cryptomys mechowi) on average weights 272 grams (0.6 lbs).
The Mechow’s mole-rat is from the family Bathyergidae (genus: Cryptomys). It is usually born with about 18 grams (0.04 lbs). When reaching adult age, they grow up to 19.3 cm (0′ 8″). Usually, Mechow’s mole-rats have 2 babies per litter.
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.
Mechow’s mole-rat (Fukomys mechowii ) is a species of rodent in the family Bathyergidae. It is found in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, and possibly Malawi. Its natural habitats are moist savanna, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, and subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland. This mole-rat was first described by the German naturalist Wilhelm Peters in 1881. The specific epithet honours the Prussian explorer and naturalist Friedrich Wilhelm Alexander von Mechow.
Animals of the same family as a Mechow’s mole-rat
We found other animals of the Bathyergidae family:
- Common mole-rat with a weight of 74 grams
- Namaqua dune mole-rat with a weight of 389 grams
- Ochre mole-rat with a weight of 200 grams
- Silvery mole-rat with a weight of 160 grams
- Bocage’s mole-rat with a weight of 93 grams
- Ansell’s mole-rat with a weight of 85 grams
- Naked mole-rat with a weight of 39 grams
- Zambian mole-rat with a weight of 76 grams
- Mashona mole-rat with a weight of 65 grams
- Cape dune mole-rat with a weight of 804 grams
Animals with the same weight as a Mechow’s mole-rat
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Cryptomys mechowi:
- Emilia’s marmoset bringing 309 grams to the scale
- Wyoming ground squirrel bringing 325 grams to the scale
- Speckled spiny tree-rat bringing 283 grams to the scale
- Squirrel glider bringing 230 grams to the scale
- Amazon weasel bringing 268 grams to the scale
- Golden Atlantic tree-rat bringing 243 grams to the scale
- Western barred bandicoot bringing 230 grams to the scale
- Afghan pika bringing 250 grams to the scale
- Rufous soft-furred spiny rat bringing 282 grams to the scale
- Dassie rat bringing 224 grams to the scale
Animals with the same litter size as a Mechow’s mole-rat
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (2) as a Mechow’s mole-rat: