It is hard to guess what a Rakali weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Rakali (Hydromys chrysogaster) on average weights 626 grams (1.38 lbs).
The Rakali is from the family Muridae (genus: Hydromys). It is usually born with about 25 grams (0.06 lbs). They can live for up to 6.17 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 27.5 cm (0′ 11″). On average, Rakalis 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 rakali, Hydromys chrysogaster, also known as the rabe or water-rat, is an Australian native rodent first described in 1804. The change to the aboriginal name Rakali was intended to foster a positive public attitude by Environment Australia.Kunwinjku of western Arnhem Land call this animal Yirrku (Goodfellow, Fauna of Kakadu and the Top End, 1993).It is the only member of the genus Hydromys with a range extending beyond Papua New Guinea and Indonesian West Papua. Having adapted to and colonised a unique niche of a semiaquatic and nocturnal lifestyle, this species lives in burrows on the banks of rivers, lakes and estuaries and feeds on aquatic insects, fish, crustaceans, mussels, snails, frogs, birds’ eggs and water birds. Rakali have a body 231–370 millimetres (9.1–14.6 in) in length, weigh, 340–1,275 grams (0.750–2.811 lb) and have a thick tail measuring around 242–345 millimetres (9.5–13.6 in). Females are generally smaller than males but tail lengths are normally the same.They have partially webbed hind legs, waterproof fur, a flattened head, a long blunt nose, many whiskers and small ears and eyes. The body is streamlined with a skull that is large, flat and elongated, with two molars on the upper and lower jaw, similar to the False water rat Xeromys myoides. They are black to brown in colour with an orange to white belly, and dark tail with a white tip.Hunted for their soft fur and considered a nuisance animal, numbers were under threat until a protection order in 1938. They were still under destruction permits from 1938 to 1957 due to alleged destruction of irrigation banks and destruction of fishing nets. Additionally from 1957 to 1967 a number of licensed seasons were also held for this reason.
Animals of the same family as a Rakali
We found other animals of the Muridae family:
- Japanese grass vole with a weight of 29 grams
- Seram long-tailed mosaic-tailed rat with a size of 14.7 cm (0′ 6″)
- Tullberg’s soft-furred mouse with a weight of 37 grams
- Thomas’s Oldfield mouse with a weight of 77 grams
- Oligoryzomys griseolus with a weight of 25 grams
- Dollman’s tree mouse with a weight of 12 grams
- Summit rat with a weight of 107 grams
- Common rufous-nosed rat with a weight of 89 grams
- Cochabamba grass mouse with a weight of 34 grams
- Lesser hamster-rat with a weight of 75 grams
Animals with the same weight as a Rakali
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Hydromys chrysogaster:
- Giant tree-rat bringing 584 grams to the scale
- Kashmir flying squirrel bringing 510 grams to the scale
- Greater bandicoot rat bringing 583 grams to the scale
- Golden-headed lion tamarin bringing 573 grams to the scale
- Siberian weasel bringing 531 grams to the scale
- Angolan slender mongoose bringing 750 grams to the scale
- Pemba flying fox bringing 541 grams to the scale
- Bougainville monkey-faced bat bringing 573 grams to the scale
- Long-nosed bandicoot bringing 720 grams to the scale
- Abert’s squirrel bringing 623 grams to the scale
Animals with the same size as a Rakali
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Rakali:
- Yucatan squirrel with a size of 23.6 cm (0′ 10″)
- White-footed rabbit-rat with a size of 25 cm (0′ 10″)
- Amazon bamboo rat with a size of 28.5 cm (1′ 0″)
- Brown-eared woolly opossum with a size of 27.3 cm (0′ 11″)
- Bare-eared squirrel monkey with a size of 30.9 cm (1′ 1″)
- Red slender loris with a size of 22.4 cm (0′ 9″)
- White-tailed prairie dog with a size of 30.7 cm (1′ 1″)
- Eastern gray squirrel with a size of 25.4 cm (0′ 10″)
- Collared titi with a size of 29.4 cm (1′ 0″)
- Siberian weasel with a size of 30.6 cm (1′ 1″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Rakali
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (3) as a Rakali:
- Desmarest’s spiny pocket mouse
- Ring-tailed ground squirrel
- Desert hedgehog
- Brandt’s hedgehog
- Small Indian civet
- Hispid pocket mouse
- Southern short-tailed shrew
- Western red-backed vole
- Handleyomys alfaroi
- Bengal fox
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Rakali
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Rakali:
- Indian gerbil with an average maximal age of 7 years
- Woylie with an average maximal age of 6.5 years
- Gansu pika with an average maximal age of 5 years
- Virginia opossum with an average maximal age of 5 years
- Southeastern myotis with an average maximal age of 6 years
- Crest-tailed mulgara with an average maximal age of 7 years
- American pika with an average maximal age of 7 years
- Uinta ground squirrel with an average maximal age of 5 years
- Prevost’s squirrel with an average maximal age of 5.67 years
- Serotine bat with an average maximal age of 6 years