40% of all mammal species are rodents (order Rodentia).
There are native rodents on ever major landmass but Antarctica & New Zealand.
They range in size from the greater capybara to the pygmy gerboa (shown).
The name derives from Latin 'rodere' ("to gnaw"), in reference to ever-growing incisors.
There are several Pacific islands without native rodents.
Rodents were introduced to New Zealand by Maoris 700 years ago. They devastated the local ecology at almost every level.
There aren't any native land mammals on New Zealand (except bats).
www.npr.org/sections/the...
The plural of Māori is “Māori”.
The letter (and sound) “s” does not exist in te Reo Māori (the Māori language).
A rodent was introduced to Aotearoa by Māori. It was the Polynesian Rat.
nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly....
