Majorcan giant dormouse


The Majorcan giant dormouse is an extinct animal from Majorca, Spain. It is considered an example of island gigantism. The closest extant relative is considered to be the genus Eliomys, which includes the garden dormouse, which was confirmed by a mitochondrial DNA analysis in 2020. It is believed to have been omnivorous, with a generalist diet and with an ability to eat hard foods. Its limb bones are robust and dissimilar in morphology to extant Gliridae, suggesting an unusual form of locomotion, with the proportions being closest to that of the Gran Canaria giant rat. It may have been terrestrial rather than arboreal, and it has been suggested that it had fossorial capabilities. The arrival of humans on the island is believed to have been a major factor in its extinction. H. morpheus was described by the palaeontologist Dorothea Bate in 1919. A 2011 study estimated its body weight as between 173 and 284 g, with a head and body length of 179 mm and a total body length of 295 mm.