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The spider rat (Argiope rattus) is a large species of spider that was spliced with black rat (Rattus rattus) DNA first in 2005 by the Roslin Institute, part of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and the biotechnology company PPL Therapeutics, based near Edinburgh. . There were only three in existence until their deaths in 2007.

Description
The spider rats Brain, Sassafras, and Hello Central ranged from 32.5 to 43.8 cm excluding the tail. They weighed between 9.8 and 16.5 oz at full grown, which they reached within six months. They resemble overgrown spiders with small rat tails and whiskers. .

Genesis
Brain, Sassafras, and Hello Central, the three existing spider rats were made in May of 2005 between the 3rd and the 7th. While Brain and Sassafras died in early 2007 in a flood that compromised their habitat, Hello Central died two months later due to unrelated causes.

The scientists who carried out the gene splicing, Moss LaMarche, Malcom Ryder, and Henrick Morgenstern, were each allowed to name one of their creations. Brain from the TV show Pinky and the Brain, Sassafrass from root beer, and Hello Central from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain.