The excavation also found 13 other rodent species, 11 of them new to science, with eight of the rats is estimated to have weighed more than 2 pounds (1 kg).
When alive, the giant weighed approximately 6 pounds. For comparison, the average house mouse weighs 150 grams. Toughest day rat is about 2 kg of living in the rainforests of the Philippines and New Guinea.
Carbon dating showed that the animals lived up to 1,000 to 2,000 years ago, along with most other East mice were found during excavation. Only one of the smaller species are found, are known to still survive in the East today, researchers say.
"People have lived on the island of Timor for over 40,000 years and hunting and eating rats during that period, but extinction does not occur until recently," said Ken Aplin of researchers at CSIRO.
He added the arrival of humans to the area rather than the cause of extinction. CSIRO is a national government body for scientific research in Australia.
"The opening of a massive forest to agriculture may be the cause of extinction, and it just might happen right after the introduction of metal tools," Aplin said.
Eastern Indonesia is the point for the evolution of mice, Aplin said. In fact, each island in eastern Indonesia each developed a unique species of rodents. Aplin also has found six new rat species in caves on the island of Flores.
Although most of the dry East today, but once covered by lush rainforest. Even so, Aplin does not rule out finding other creatures.
