The giant pouched rats (genus Cricetomys) of sub-Saharan Africa are large muroid rodents.

[1] Recent molecular studies, however, place them in the family Nesomyidae, part of an ancient radiation of African and Malagasy muroids.

The procedure for training rats to detect land mines was conceived of and developed by Belgian Bart Weetjens.

Training starts at four weeks of age, when the rats are handled to accustom them to humans and exposed to a variety of sights and sounds.

Finally, the rat is trained to wear a harness and practises outdoors on a lead, finding inactive mines under soil.

The rats can test many more samples than laboratory techniques can—100 in 20 minutes, which would take a lab technician up to four days using conventional microscopy.