Rats, big as ruddy cats

IF you’re scared of rats, you may want to stop reading.

Scientists have identified one of the largest species in the world – and it can crack open coconuts with its bare teeth.

The giant rat – named Uromys vika – is 450cm long and weighs almost 1kg.

It nests up to 9m high in trees in the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific.

However, only one has been found, and it died shortly after capture.

The animal is more than four times the size of domestic rats, which grow no more than 25cm long.