Fossilised remains on display in the Montevido Museum of Natural history in Uruguay have been identified by scientists as a newly discovered rodent species.
The three meter-long herbivore, called Josephoartigasia Monesi, is thought to weigh in at almost a tonne.
According to Dr Rudemar Ernesto Blanco of the Institute of Physics in Montevideo, the animal could have reached this size to protect itself from predators, such as terror birds and saber-toothed cats.
He told the BBC: "If you are a rodent you cannot run so well so you would have had to fight with these predators."
He also noted that the teeth embedded in the half-meter-long fossil skull of the bull-sized beast, though to have roamed the earth 2-4 million years ago, could have been used for fighting.
Uruguay's newly discovered rodent belongs to a family of creatures known as dinomyids.
The largest living rodent species currently is the capybara, which can weigh up to 60 kilograms.
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