It is hard to guess what a Plains viscacha rat weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Plains viscacha rat (Tympanoctomys barrerae) on average weights 86 grams (0.19 lbs).
The Plains viscacha rat is from the family Octodontidae (genus: Tympanoctomys). It is usually born with about 4 grams (0.01 lbs). When reaching adult age, they grow up to 12.9 cm (0′ 6″).
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 plains viscacha rat, plains vizcacha rat, red viscacha rat, or red vizcacha rat (Tympanoctomys barrerae) is a species of rodent in the family Octodontidae native to Argentina. It is one of three species in the genus Tympanoctomys.
Animals of the same family as a Plains viscacha rat
We found other animals of the Octodontidae family:
- Moon-toothed degu with a weight of 200 grams
- Bridges’s degu with a weight of 162 grams
- Coruro with a weight of 101 grams
- Mountain degu with a weight of 154 grams
- Mountain viscacha rat with a weight of 124 grams
- Sage’s rock rat with a weight of 96 grams
- Chilean rock rat with a weight of 130 grams
- Common degu with a weight of 203 grams
Animals with the same weight as a Plains viscacha rat
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Tympanoctomys barrerae:
- Long-tailed mountain rat bringing 79 grams to the scale
- Oecomys cleberi bringing 73 grams to the scale
- Aegialomys xanthaeolus bringing 79 grams to the scale
- Peters’s epauletted fruit bat bringing 95 grams to the scale
- Narrow-faced kangaroo rat bringing 81 grams to the scale
- Wahlberg’s epauletted fruit bat bringing 93 grams to the scale
- Distinguished Oldfield mouse bringing 77 grams to the scale
- Tanala tufted-tailed rat bringing 90 grams to the scale
- Asian garden dormouse bringing 100 grams to the scale
- Gansu pika bringing 69 grams to the scale
Animals with the same size as a Plains viscacha rat
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Plains viscacha rat:
- Black-tailed mosaic-tailed rat with a size of 13.7 cm (0′ 6″)
- Mountain mosaic-tailed rat with a size of 11.5 cm (0′ 5″)
- Golden spiny mouse with a size of 11.1 cm (0′ 5″)
- Mongolian gerbil with a size of 11.2 cm (0′ 5″)
- Sundevall’s jird with a size of 15 cm (0′ 6″)
- Small Japanese mole with a size of 13.9 cm (0′ 6″)
- Brazilian shrew mouse with a size of 10.4 cm (0′ 5″)
- Short-snouted elephant shrew with a size of 11.5 cm (0′ 5″)
- Glacier rat with a size of 12.4 cm (0′ 5″)
- Heath mouse with a size of 13.7 cm (0′ 6″)