The greater bandicoot rat or Indian bandicoot rat (''Bandicota indica'') is a species of

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are n ...

in the family Muridae found in

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

, China,

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Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, Laos,

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Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

, Sri Lanka,

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, and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

akistan It can grow to about 27–29 cm without including the tail which can grow to 28 cm. These should not be confused with marsupial

bandicoot Bandicoots are a group of more than 20 species of small to medium-sized, terrestrial, largely nocturnal marsupial omnivores in the order Peramelemorphia. They are endemic to the Australia–New Guinea region, including the Bismarck Archipelago t ...

s which inhabit Australia and neighbouring

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

, which were named after the

bandicota ''Bandicota'' is a genus of rodents from Asia known as the bandicoot rats. Their common name and genus name are derived from the Telugu language word ''pandikokku'' (పందికొక్కు). DNA studies have found the group to be a mon ...

rats.

Description

The greater bandicoot rat has a dark gray-brown upper parts with a profusion of long, black hairs. Sides are gray with a few long, black hairs. Short, light gray fur occurs on the ventral surfaces. It has a dark and naked, scaly tail, and dark feet with light-colored claws. The young are much lighter in colour. In Sri Lanka, the bandicoot rat is known as - in the

Sinhala language Sinhala ( ; , ''siṁhala'', ), sometimes called Sinhalese (), is an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken by the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka, who make up the largest ethnic group on the island, numbering about 16 million. Sinhala is also s ...

, the meaning of which directly translates to "pig-rat". These are one of several animals called in the

Nepali language Nepali (; , ) is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Himalayas region of South Asia. It is the official, and most widely spoken, language of Nepal, where it also serves as a '' lingua franca''. Nepali has official status in the Indian st ...

Reproduction

A female has between 8 and 10 litters during her life. The young (8–14 rat pups per litter) are born blind and naked. Young reach sexual maturity around 50 to 60 days after birth. The lifespan of adults is around a year.

Behaviour

Large, aggressive bandicoot rats erect their guard hairs on their backs and emit grunts when disturbed. If caged with other bandicoots, it is likely to fight to death within a few hours. They're so aggressive that sometimes dogs and cats are afraid of these bandicoot rat, they occupy the outskirts of human dwellings such as compounds and gardens and are commonly found near garbage bins. They are also sometimes found on the roadside. Sometimes they get run over by cars and die on the road. Burrowing habits cause great damage to grounds and flooring, as they can also tunnel through brick and masonry. Their characteristic large burrows give away their presence. They are not fastidious eaters, feeding on household refuse, grain, and vegetables, and are very serious pests in poultry farms. They are also a carrier for many diseases.

Parasites

Parasites of ''Bandicota indica'' include: * '' Schistosoma spindale'' * ''

Angiostrongylus cantonensis ''Angiostrongylus cantonensis'' is a parasitic nematode (roundworm) that causes angiostrongyliasis, the most common cause of eosinophilic meningitis in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Basin. The nematode commonly resides in the pulmonary arteries ...

Rat-borne diseases

* Leptospirosis *

Hantavirus ''Orthohantavirus'' is a genus of single-stranded, enveloped, negative-sense RNA viruses in the family '' Hantaviridae'' within the order ''Bunyavirales''. Members of this genus may be called orthohantaviruses or simply hantaviruses. Orthohantav ...

Babesiosis Babesiosis or piroplasmosis is a malaria-like parasitic disease caused by infection with a eukaryotic parasite in the order Piroplasmida, typically a ''Babesia'' or '' Theileria'', in the phylum Apicomplexa. Human babesiosis transmission via ...

* Bovine schistosomiasis.

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1767310 Bandicota Rats of Asia Mammals of Nepal Rodents of India Mammals of Sri Lanka Mammals described in 1800 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot