It is hard to guess what a Tome’s spiny rat weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Tome’s spiny rat (Proechimys semispinosus) on average weights 355 grams (0.78 lbs).
The Tome’s spiny rat is from the family Echimyidae (genus: Proechimys). It is usually born with about 26 grams (0.06 lbs). They can live for up to 2.58 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 22.9 cm (0′ 10″). On average, Tome’s spiny rats can have babies 4 times per year with a litter size of 2.
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.
Tome’s spiny rat (Proechimys semispinosus), also known as Tomes’ spiny rat or the Central American spiny rat, is a species of spiny rat distributed from Honduras to Ecuador. The IUCN has assessed its conservation status as being of “least concern”.
Animals of the same family as a Tome’s spiny rat
We found other animals of the Echimyidae family:
- Brazilian spiny tree-rat with a weight of 400 grams
- Giant tree-rat with a weight of 584 grams
- Elias’s Atlantic spiny rat with 3 babies per litter
- Armored rat with a weight of 281 grams
- Guyenne spiny rat with a weight of 285 grams
- Roberto’s spiny rat with a weight of 284 grams
- Ihering’s Atlantic spiny rat with a weight of 220 grams
- Guaira spiny rat with a weight of 349 grams
- Drab Atlantic tree-rat with a weight of 260 grams
- Mouse-tailed Atlantic spiny rat with a weight of 285 grams
Animals with the same weight as a Tome’s spiny rat
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Proechimys semispinosus:
- Zanj sun squirrel bringing 347 grams to the scale
- Lowland ringtail possum bringing 300 grams to the scale
- Camas pocket gopher bringing 360 grams to the scale
- Mutable sun squirrel bringing 390 grams to the scale
- Highland tuco-tuco bringing 327 grams to the scale
- Pygmy spotted skunk bringing 365 grams to the scale
- Emilia’s marmoset bringing 309 grams to the scale
- Merriam’s pocket gopher bringing 419 grams to the scale
- Steinbach’s tuco-tuco bringing 385 grams to the scale
- Smoky pocket gopher bringing 302 grams to the scale
Animals with the same size as a Tome’s spiny rat
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Tome’s spiny rat:
- Carruther’s mountain squirrel with a size of 22.9 cm (0′ 10″)
- Isarog shrew-rat with a size of 18.7 cm (0′ 8″)
- Asian red-cheeked squirrel with a size of 20.3 cm (0′ 8″)
- Common echymipera with a size of 27 cm (0′ 11″)
- Allen’s woodrat with a size of 22.3 cm (0′ 9″)
- Round-tailed muskrat with a size of 19.9 cm (0′ 8″)
- Speckled dasyure with a size of 19.6 cm (0′ 8″)
- Long-footed treeshrew with a size of 18.5 cm (0′ 8″)
- Molina’s hog-nosed skunk with a size of 21.1 cm (0′ 9″)
- American pika with a size of 19 cm (0′ 8″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Tome’s spiny rat
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (2) as a Tome’s spiny rat:
- Moss-forest rat
- Long-nosed echymipera
- White-bellied mosaic-tailed rat
- Gray-cheeked flying squirrel
- Lusitanian pine vole
- Selous’s mongoose
- Bushy-tailed jird
- Little pied bat
- Himalayan striped squirrel
- Brown hyena
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Tome’s spiny rat
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Tome’s spiny rat:
- Etruscan shrew with an average maximal age of 2.67 years
- African pygmy mouse with an average maximal age of 3.08 years
- Southern Plains woodrat with an average maximal age of 2.25 years
- Talas tuco-tuco with an average maximal age of 3 years
- Little red kaluta with an average maximal age of 3 years
- Lutrine opossum with an average maximal age of 3 years
- Cape mole-rat with an average maximal age of 3 years
- Long-nosed echymipera with an average maximal age of 2.83 years
- Star-nosed mole with an average maximal age of 3 years
- Narrow-nosed planigale with an average maximal age of 3 years