| Lesser bandicoot rat | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Muridae |
| Genus: | Bandicota |
| Species: | B. bengalensis
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| Binomial name | |
| Bandicota bengalensis Gray, 1835
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The lesser bandicoot rat, Sindhi rice rat, Bengal rat or Indian mole-rat (Bandicota bengalensis) is a giant rat of Southern Asia, not related to the true bandicoots which are marsupials. They can be up to 40 cm long (including the tail), are considered a pest in the cereal crops and gardens of India and Sri Lanka, and emit piglike grunts when attacking. The name bandicoot is derived from the Telugu language word pandikokku, which translates loosely to "pig-rat".[2] Like the better known rats in the genus Rattus, bandicoot rats are members of the family Muridae. Their fur is dark or (rarely) pale brown dorsally, occasionally blackish, and light to dark grey ventrally. The head-body length is around 250 mm, and the uniformly dark tail is shorter than the head-body length.
- ^ Aplin, K.; Lunde, D.; Frost, A. & Molur, S. (2016). "Bandicota bengalensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T2540A115062388.
- ^ Yule, Henry, Sir (New ed. edited by William Crooke, B.A.) (1903) Hobson-Jobson: A glossary of colloquial Anglo-Indian words and phrases, and of kindred terms, etymological, historical, geographical and discursive. J. Murray, London. online Archived 2012-07-11 at archive.today