SEPTEMBER 23, 2019
by Marissa Parrott and Simon Clulow, The Conversation
Water rats in Western Australia are safely
hunting cane toads. Author provided
Australia's water rats, or Rakali, are one
of Australia's beautiful but lesser-known native rodents. And these
intelligent, semi-aquatic rats have revealed another talent: they are one of
the only Australian mammals to safely eat toxic cane toads.
Our research, published today in
Australian Mammalogy, found water rats in Western Australia adapted
to hunt the highly poisonous toads less than two years after the toads moved
into the rats' territory.
The rats, which can grow to over 1kg, are
the only mammal found to specifically target large toads, neatly dissecting the
toads to eat their hearts and livers while avoiding the poisonous skin and
glands.
Water rats
Water
rats are nocturnal and specially adapted to live in waterways, with
webbed feet and soft water-resistant fur. Their fur is so impressive there was
once a thriving water rat fur industry in Australia.
They can be found in lakes, rivers and
estuaries, often living alongside people, in New South Wales, Queensland,
Tasmania, South Australia, far north and southwest Western Australia, the
Northern Territory, and Victoria, where they can even be seen along St Kilda
Pier.
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