New York City rats can be big, and because of some yucky research, we now know just how big.

Matthew Combs, a doctoral student at Fordham University, and his colleagues collected hundreds of rats for an ongoing study to determine how the creatures colonize. But in the process, they've given us a better idea of how the rodents can range in size.

No, New York City rats aren't as big as cats (at least the well-fed domestic ones), as Gotham mythology would have it. However, the vermin are of a heft that will give you nightmares in a New York minute .

Combs recently showed off the biggest catch to The Huffington Post -- a 675-gram (nearly 1 1/2 pounds) monster. It's right here to disgust/terrify/fascinate you.