| bandicoot rat | |
noun | |
| burrowing scaly-tailed rat of India and Ceylon |
bandicoot rat
any of five Asiatic species of rodents closely associated with human populations. The greater bandicoot rat (Bandicota indica) is the largest, weighing 0.5 to 1 kg (1.1 to 2.2 pounds). The shaggy, blackish brown body is 19 to 33 cm (7.5 to 13 inches) long, not including a scantily haired tail of about the same length. Greater bandicoot rats are found on the Indian subcontinent and throughout Indochina; additional populations on the Malay Peninsula, Taiwan, and Java probably represent inadvertent or intentional human introductions
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