Giant hutia
The giant hutias are an extinct group of large rodents known from fossil and subfossil material in the West Indies. One species, "Amblyrhiza inundata", is estimated to have weighed between , big specimens being as large as an American black bear. This is twice as large as the capybara, the largest rodent living today, but still much smaller than "Josephoartigasia monesi", the largest rodent known. These animals were probably used as a food source by aboriginal humans. All giant hutias are in a single family, Heptaxodontidae, which contains no living species; this grouping seems to be paraphyletic and artificial, however.
Rodent
Some rodent species are serious agricultural pests, eating large quantities of food stored by humans. For example, in 2003, the amount of rice lost to mice and rats in Asia was estimated to be enough to feed 200 million people. Most of the damage worldwide is caused by a relatively small number of species, chiefly rats and mice. In Indonesia and Tanzania, rodents reduce crop yields by around fifteen percent, while in some instances in South America losses have reached ninety percent. Across Africa, rodents including "Mastomys" and "Arvicanthis" damage cereals, groundnuts, vegetables and cacao. In Asia, rats, mice and species such as "Microtus brandti", "Meriones unguiculatus" and "Eospalax baileyi" damage crops of rice, sorghum, tubers, vegetables and nuts. In Europe, as well as rats and mice, species of "Apodemus", "Microtus" and in occasional outbreaks "Arvicola terrestris" cause damage to orchards, vegetables and pasture as well as cereals. In South America, a wider range of rodent species, such as "Holochilus", "Akodon", "Calomys", "Oligoryzomys", "Phyllotis", "Sigmodon" and "Zygodontomys", damage many crops including sugar cane, fruits, vegetables, and tubers.