Elephant rat

The elephant rat  is a small-sized rodent with a range that spreads throughout the world. It typically lives in urban environments and is usually found searching for food in old, run-down areas, such as prisons.

History
During her time in the Fire Nation prison, Hama employed elephant rats in her development and practice of bloodbending.

While staying in the Earth Kingdom's Chin Village, Aang was imprisoned for Avatar Kyoshi's murder of Chin the Conqueror. While in the Chin Village jail, he saw an elephant rat grab an acorn on the ground before it scampered off.

Anatomy
The elephant rat is a small-sized rodent, covered with a coat of coarse, dark brown fur. It has a pink tail and white markings around its eyes alongside triangular and erect ears. However, its most striking feature is its long proboscis (nose), which it uses to search for food. Though it moves on all fours, it is capable of sitting up on its back legs and using its forelegs to grasp food.

Connection
The elephant rat is a hybrid of two animals, the elephant and rat. It also bears a resemblance to the elephant shrew.

Trivia

 * The combination of an elephant and a rat to create this animal can be seen as an oxymoron because of the myth that elephants are afraid of mice.
 * Elephant rats are the first of three animals to ever be seen being bloodbent. The second and third animals were ox goats and wolves, respectively.