Mystery unveiled: Viral 'Shower Rat' is neither a rat nor in shower!
Shower rat video
The video's origins have been identified as Peru -- in which the rodent can be seen rubbing lather from soap on his tiny body
Social media users were completely tuned into a short video of a rat taking shower that was being circulated on almost all sharing platforms as of yesterday.
Originated from Peru, the video showed a tiny rat scrubbing lather from soap on his body generously in a human-like act over a 30-second long video.
Watch the video:
It is now found that the shower rat is actually a misnomer -- as it is neither a rat nor is taking a shower.
Dallas Krentzel, an evolutionary biologist who studies rodent diversity at the University of Chicago at the Field Museum told a website: "With the large head size, bipedal position, flexible forelimbs, short stiff tail, and consistent coat color...this animal fits the ID of a pacarana."
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Krentzel added:"There is just no other rodent that would fit all of those features and the fact that this video was taken in Peru where pacaranas are known just seals the deal.Both pacas and pacaranas are some of my favourite species for how weird they are, so I took notice of this post today."
Pacarana is a different type of brown rodent from South America. They are arboreal, meaning their habitats are in trees. Pacaranas are also fairly comfortable standing on their hind legs, and many online videos of pacaranas show the rodents standing upright.
Krenztel also said that the animal in the video, standing next to a drain, is larger than a rat and has a very large face.Also unlike rats, it doesn't have a long, snake-like tail.
Meanwhile, rat enthusiasts are concerned about the welfare of the animal as rats clean themselves by licking and so much soap on his body isn't good for him.
Some even point out that the young pacarana might have been covered with soap, which it has been trying to get rid of in the video.