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Year of the Rat
7 February 2008 is the beginning of the year of the earth rat or wùzǐ in the chinese calendar. In the Guiana Shield, the Amazon basin and Central America, terrestrial rats are known as the nocturnal spiny rats (Echimidae) such as Proechimys spp. (Photo in Guyane (c) P.-M. Forget). These rodents weigh 200-500 g, have a white belly and a long tail, eat fruit, seeds (dispersing some of them in scatterhoards), fungi, and animal matter (insects). Their reproduction is thus highly dependent on the abundance and diversity of food resources which are affected by forest type and degradation, and/or climate that influences fruit availability. Previous years of the rat were 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984 and 1996. Literature about spiny rat or Proechimys (extracted from the Web of Knowledge ®).