More Rodents?

Fallax

Fallax
We currently have four rodents in the game:
  1. North American Beaver
  2. Black-Tailed Prairie Dog
  3. Capybara
  4. African Crested Porcupine
These are all great animals and even though it took a while we have a nice selection of rodents. How about more? Let's say you could double the amount of rodents we have in the game, which 4 species would you add? (For the purpose of this thread I'm only doing habitat animals, I'd love to see small rodents in exhibits but it doesn't seem realistic).

Here is mine:

1. Northern Luzon Giant Cloud Rat
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Mice and rats are some of the most iconic animals of all, but in general far too small to be habitat animals. Here is an exception, these guys are pretty big and would let us get one of these familiar animals in the game. They have also been becoming rapidly more common in zoos as the years go on as well as finally giving the Philippines some representation in game.
2. Nutria
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Probably a controversial choice but I really really like the nutria. It's probably one of the most well known rodent species in the world with how it has been introduced to so many places around the world but beyond that it is also a very unique rodent looking almost like a giant semi-aquatic rat. It can work both as an educational animal for invasive species as well as a strange alternative to the capybara.
3. Azara's Agouti
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Agoutis are really common in zoos and are an icon of South American tropical halls, scurrying across the ground. I feel like this is one of the most underrated picks for what really is a super common zoo animal. I pick this species as it is the most common in zoos and certainly the one I've seen the most.
4. Patagonian Mara
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A lot has already been said about the mara, it is probably the most popular choice for a rodent currently and for good reason. This is one of the most common and iconic zoo animals there is while also giving representation to an underappreciated region. Why wouldn't someone like the mara?

Honourable mention goes to the Alpine Marmot, it was pretty close!
 

Chuditch

Chuditch
I'd really love more rodents! After primates and marsupials, they'd be my next choice for a mammal group I'd want a whole animal pack devoted to.

Mayki said:
Let's say you could double the amount of rodents we have in the game, which 4 species would you add?
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Keeping it just to habitat species (given basic exhibit mammals aren't a thing in PZ yet), mine would be:
  1. Patagonian mara (Dolichotis patagonum)
    IMG_4612-scaled-e1618599056203.jpg

    You know them, you want them, I expect these guys to be at the top of most people's rodent wishlists.

  2. South African spinghare (Pedetes capensis)
    article_spring_hare_1.jpg

    The macropod rig doesn't just have to be for marsupials! The South African springhare is among the very few jumping rodents (of which there are many) that are large enough to be viable as habitat animals, and they'd make a great and unique addition to any nocturnal house. Not that Zoo Tycoon nostalgia matters much to me, but some of you may also remember it fondly as an ambient species in ZT2.
    Springhare_BF.png


  3. Malagasy giant rat (Hypogeomys antimena)
    MG_1724-giant-jumping-rat.jpg

    My most wanted Afrotropical mammal! Although the fossa finally gave Madagascar more than just lemurs, it could always use more diversity and this would be a great option to bring attention to a particularly underappreciated component of the Malagasy mammal fauna - the rodents. This species is also critically endangered so any chance for raising awareness of its existence is a huge plus in my eyes.

  4. Rakali (Hydromys chrysogaster)
    rakali-water-rat_001-c2a9-tracy-oliver.jpg

    Obligate Oceanian representative on my list, the rakali is the Australian continent's answer to an otter and would look great housed alongside the platypus in a kind of nocturnal freshwater house. Representing a variety of environments from tropical New Guinea to cool temperate Tasmania, it is also one of only two Australian rodents kept internationally with 6 EAZA holdings (the other being the spinifex hopping-mouse with 11 holdings).
Honourable mentions to North Luzon giant cloud rat, red-rumped agouti, prehensile-tailed porcupine, plains viscacha and black-footed tree rat. Some kind of tree squirrel would be cool too.
 

SuzieSky

SuzieSky
  1. South African Springhare: This was an ambient animal in ZT2 desert maps, but I always wanted it in a habitat. They would be fun to contrast with wallabies
  2. Brazilian Porcupine: This is the cutest/most interesting of the New World porcupines.
  3. Red Rumped Agouti: I want to build an Amazon House habitat, and I kind of need them for that.
  4. Patagonian Mara: I've seen them in zoos, and they seem kind of cute and useful. I don't know that I'd miss them too much personally, but they'd be fun to pair with guanacos or llamas as well as greater or Darwin's rheas.
  5. Honorable mentions: North American Porcupine, Cloud Rat, maybe Alpine marmot?
 

SuzieSky

SuzieSky
Chuditch said:
South African spinghare (Pedetes capensis)

The macropod rig doesn't just have to be for marsupials! The South African springhare is among the very few jumping rodents (of which there are many) that are large enough to be viable as habitat animals, and they'd make a great and unique addition to any nocturnal house. Not that Zoo Tycoon nostalgia matters much to me, but some of you may also remember it fondly as an ambient species in ZT2.
Springhare_BF.png
Click to expand...
Yay! Someone else remembers them!
 

FlameWizard492

FlameWizard492
My rodent wishlist:
  • Patagonian Mara
  • Agouti of any kind
  • Alpine Marmot
  • Nutria
  • North American Porcupine
  • Prehensile-Tailed Porcupine (Andean or Brazilian)
  • Indian Giant Squirrel
  • Exhibit: Naked Mole Rat
Holy crap, that’s basically a rodent-exclusive animal pack!
 

Antimony96

Antimony96
Only two that I think are necessary are the Patagonian mara (mandatory) and one of the two most prominent New World porcupines (North American and Brazilian). After that, probably a red-rumped agouti.
 

RedPandaReggie

RedPandaReggie
Patagonian Mara
Azara's or Red-Rumped Agouti
Red Squirrel
Indian Giant Squirrel
Alpine Marmot
Prehensile-Tailed Porcupine
North American Porcupine
Naked Mole Rat
Rakali
European Hamster
Long-Tailed Chinchilla
 

Pentoleaf

Pentoleaf
If it's top four

North Luzon giant cloud rat
Indian giant squirrel
Red-rumped agouti
Vancouver Island marmot

Honourable mentions to the North American Porcupine and naked mole rat.
 

jcp011c

jcp011c
Patagonian Mara - not absolutely necessary but high up on my want list. Top 10 for me

Brazilian Porcupine - also would be great to have - top 20 for me

The last two are further down my list but the North American Porcupine and the Guinea Pig

Honorable mention to the Pacarana
 

NachoB

NachoB
I'm really surprised at how many supporters the "nutria" has. We call it coipu here as well and is a pretty common animal in the wild and near human settlements ( and very uninteresting to me tbh).

My most wanted rodent is the Patagonian mara, but i Will also take an agouti. Naked mole rat would be awesome for exhibit.
 

Narwhaler

Narwhaler
There are 3 rodents that I find quite interesting:
  • Luzon giant cloud rat. An arboreal giant murid from the Philippines? Count me in. Also quite common in captivity and endangered!
  • Patagonian mara. Definitely a must have animal, there is no Patagonia representation in the game rn.

Now I would like to bring to your attention this one:
- Red and white giant flying squirrel (Petaurista alborufus)

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I do think this species could potentially be an amazing addition to the game, and honestly the more I think about it the more I want it! Squirrels are often requested so why not go big with one of the giant squirrels, not only that but also a flying squirrel! People often think of flying squirrels as walkthrough exhibit animals. But imagine if we could get a habitat flying squirrel? I think the red and white giant flying squirrel is the answer. It has really pretty coloring and is one of the largest flying squirrels, measuring over a meter long! Imagine a rodent larger than a prairie dog climbing around and gliding??? Now regarding gliding imagine if Frontier added an enrichment item that consists on two platforms or poles which the squirrel uses to glide from one point to another... That would pretty much allow players to define where the squirrel will glide over, I think that would be soooooo cool!!! Like imagine you put the gliding poles so the gliding trayectory goes over a guest path? or a river? That would be so incredible, and I think Frontier could be perfectly capable of doing this, as we already have enrichment where animals play an animation that goes from point A to point B such as the hollow log. JOIN THE FLYING SQUIRREL REVOLUTION!!!!
 

Cynogale bennettii II

Cynogale bennettii II
Being the most diverse group of mammals on Earth, I'd say the rodents definitely should get more species. These are my top four choices:

1. South African springhare: A unique-looking rodent from Southern Africa that would go great into savannah and desert-themed areas, can be mixed with aardvarks and would make an excellent non-marsupial use of the wallaby rig. Just a very unique-looking rodent, which is also one of the largest in Africa behind the crested porcupines.
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2. Azara's agouti: One of, if not the, most common species of agouti in European zoos, which lives in both forest and savannah habitats, can be kept in walkthrough enclosures and is mixed with all kinds of species. There are lots of South American rodents I'd love to see, but I feel like these ones have the most utility. Plus, we already know how much Frontier like their agoutis from Zoo Tycoon 3.
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3. Malagasy giant rat: The rats and mice are the biggest of the rodent families, so they should have at least one representative. This Critically Endangered species from Madagascar is sociable, kept in a number of European zoos and can be mixed with lemurs; they would also be able to use a lot of the new quokka animations (just remove the hopping and you'll be golden).
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4. Amazonian long-tailed porcupine OR Mexican hairy dwarf porcupine: A difficult choice for me - the Amazonian long-tailed is probably the species kept in European zoos (split from the Brazilian porcupine in 2021) and is obviously a very charming animal, while the Mexican hairy dwarf has all the odd looks of the long-tailed combined with bright yellow colours, but is not as commonly-kept in captivity. Ultimately, I'd like to see either (I wouldn't even be mad to see both, to be honest).
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The Eurasian red squirrel narrowly misses out on the top four spaces as a habitat animal - further honourable mentions go to the Patagonian mara, lowland paca, Northern Luzon giant cloud rat, Gambian giant pouched rat, Desmarest's hutia, plains viscacha, Cape ground squirrel, European souslik and maned rat (not kept in zoos to the best of my knowledge, but a fluffy venomous rat as big as a meerkat? Count me in).
 
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