It is hard to guess what a Moonrat weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Moonrat (Echinosorex gymnura) on average weights 787 grams (1.74 lbs).
The Moonrat is from the family Erinaceidae (genus: Echinosorex). It is usually born with about 14 grams (0.03 lbs). They can live for up to 7 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 32.7 cm (1′ 1″). On average, Moonrats can have babies 2 times per year with a litter size of 1.
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 moonrat (Echinosorex gymnura) is a southeast Asian species of mammal in the family Erinaceidae (hedgehogs and gymnures). It is the only species in the genus Echinosorex. The moonrat is a fairly small, primarily carnivorous animal which, despite its name, is not closely related to rats or other rodents. The scientific name is sometimes given as Echinosorex gymnurus, but this is incorrect.
Animals of the same family as a Moonrat
We found other animals of the Erinaceidae family:
- Indian long-eared hedgehog with a size of 16.3 cm (0′ 7″)
- Dinagat gymnure with a size of 20 cm (0′ 8″)
- Daurian hedgehog with a size of 21.5 cm (0′ 9″)
- European hedgehog with a weight of 789 grams
- Hainan gymnure with a weight of 52 grams
- Southern African hedgehog with a weight of 337 grams
- Desert hedgehog with a weight of 352 grams
- North African hedgehog with a weight of 931 grams
- Short-tailed gymnure with a weight of 60 grams
- Indian hedgehog with a weight of 171 grams
Animals with the same weight as a Moonrat
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Echinosorex gymnura:
- Aotus infulatus bringing 800 grams to the scale
- Guinea pig bringing 728 grams to the scale
- Weasel sportive lemur bringing 670 grams to the scale
- European hedgehog bringing 789 grams to the scale
- Paraguaian hairy dwarf porcupine bringing 751 grams to the scale
- Namaqua slender mongoose bringing 750 grams to the scale
- Meerkat bringing 730 grams to the scale
- Giant white-tailed rat bringing 644 grams to the scale
- Utah prairie dog bringing 900 grams to the scale
- Red-tailed sportive lemur bringing 763 grams to the scale
Animals with the same size as a Moonrat
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Moonrat:
- Slender-tailed squirrel with a size of 26.5 cm (0′ 11″)
- Ring-tailed vontsira with a size of 35.2 cm (1′ 2″)
- American marten with a size of 38.2 cm (1′ 4″)
- White-eared opossum with a size of 36 cm (1′ 3″)
- African striped weasel with a size of 30.4 cm (1′ 0″)
- White-tailed prairie dog with a size of 30.7 cm (1′ 1″)
- Eastern white-eared giant rat with a size of 33.9 cm (1′ 2″)
- Common echymipera with a size of 27 cm (0′ 11″)
- Long-tailed chinchilla with a size of 30.5 cm (1′ 1″)
- Xerus erythropus with a size of 31.2 cm (1′ 1″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Moonrat
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (1) as a Moonrat:
- Chacma baboon
- Steenbok
- Gemsbok
- Montane guinea pig
- Gray snub-nosed monkey
- Alpaca
- Lowland paca
- Greater bamboo lemur
- Humboldt’s white-fronted capuchin
- Sloth bear
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Moonrat
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Moonrat:
- Eastern pygmy possum with an average maximal age of 8 years
- Gray dorcopsis with an average maximal age of 8 years
- Lesser short-nosed fruit bat with an average maximal age of 8 years
- Slender mongoose with an average maximal age of 6 years
- Mexican mouse opossum with an average maximal age of 7 years
- American hog-nosed skunk with an average maximal age of 7 years
- Red-tailed chipmunk with an average maximal age of 8 years
- Prevost’s squirrel with an average maximal age of 5.67 years
- Crest-tailed mulgara with an average maximal age of 7 years
- North African hedgehog with an average maximal age of 7 years