Southern African species of mammals belonging to the mouse and rat family of rodents
Mesic four-striped grass rat |
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At the Prague Zoo |
Conservation status |
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Status_iucn3.1_LC.svg/220px-Status_iucn3.1_LC.svg.png) Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1] |
Scientific classification |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Rodentia |
Family: | Muridae |
Genus: | Rhabdomys |
Species: | R. dilectus |
Binomial name |
Rhabdomys dilectus
De Winton, 1897 |
Synonyms |
- Rhabdomys algoae Roberts, 1946
- Rhabdomys angolae (Wroughton, 1905)
- Rhabdomys bethuliensis Roberts, 1946
- Rhabdomys chakae (Wroughton, 1905)
- Rhabdomys cradockensis Roberts, 1946
- Rhabdomys diminutus (Thomas, 1893)
- Rhabdomys griquoides Roberts, 1946
- Rhabdomys moshesh (Wroughton, 1905)
- Rhabdomys nyasae (Wroughton, 1905)
- Rhabdomys vaalensis Roberts, 1946 [2]
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Rhabdomys dilectus, the mesic four-striped grass rat, is a species of rodent in the family Muridae.[3]
Taxonomy
Traditionally the genus Rhabdomys has been seen as a single species, Rhabdomys pumilio, though modern evidence on the basis of karyotype and mtDNA analysis suggests that it comprises a second species, Rhabdomys dilectus .[4]
R. dilectus is divided in the following subspecies.
- R.d.dilectus (karyotypic form 2n = 46): Lesotho, South African province of KwaZulu-Natal, and eastern Zimbabwe;
- R.d.angolae (Wroughton, 1905): central and southern Angola;
- R.d.diminutus (Thomas, 1893): central and western Kenya, central-eastern Uganda, highlands of central-northern Tanzania, south-east Democratic Republic of Congo, northern Malawi;
Description
Rhabdomys dilectus is a fairly typical smallish murid, rather larger than house mice. Head+body length is between 90 and 135 mm, the length of the tail between 80 and 135 mm, the length of the foot between 17 and 33 mm, the length of the ears between 10.0 and 20 mm and the weight up to 68 g.[5]
The back is dark reddish-brown and displays characteristic black longitudinal stripes.[6] The stripes inspired the generic name, which is derived from the Greek rhabdos meaning rod, giving Rhabdomys, meaning something like "barred mouse". The ventral sides are lighter. The legs are dark grizzled. The tail is shorter than the head and body. It is a terrestrial species, crepuscular and solitary. It feeds mainly on seeds of wheat and partly on plants, berries and small invertebrates. It is considered a plague by farmers.
Distribution
It is found throughout southern Africa.
Habitat
Rhabdomys dilectus lives in the wetter mountain savannas up to 2,300 meters above sea level. It often invades cultivated fields. In urban areas it may enter houses.
References
- ^ Du Toit, N.; Pillay, N.; Ganem, G.; Relton, C. (2019). "Rhabdomys dilectus". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T112168645A140971990. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-1.RLTS.T112168645A140971990.en.
- ^ Biolib
- ^ Musser, G. G.; Carleton, M. D. (2005). "Superfamily Muroidea". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 1495–1496. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
- ^ Castiglia, R., Solano, E., Makundi, R. H., Hulselmans, J., Verheyen, E. and Colangelo, P. (2011), Rapid chromosomal evolution in the mesic four-striped grass rat Rhabdomys dilectus (Rodentia, Muridae) revealed by mtDNA phylogeographic analysis. Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0469.2011.00627.x
- ^ Jonathan Kingdon, East African Mammals: An Atlas of Evolution in Africa, Volume 2, Part B, University of Chicago Press, 1974
- ^ Mills, Gus & Hes, Lex (1997). The Complete Book of Southern African Mammals. Cape Town: Struik Publishers.
Extant species of subfamily
Murinae (Aethomys–Chrotomys)
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Aethomys Division | Aethomys (Bush rats) | - Bocage's rock rat (A. bocagei)
- red rock rat (A. chrysophilus)
- Grant's rock mouse (A. (Micaelamys) granti)
- Hinde's rock rat (A. hindei)
- Tete veld aethomys (A. ineptus)
- Kaiser's rock rat (A. kaiseri)
- Namaqua rock rat (A. (Micaelamys) namaquensis)
- Nyika rock rat (A. nyikae)
- Selinda veld rat (A. silindensis)
- Tinfields rock rat (A. stannarius)
- Thomas's rock rat (A. thomasi)
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Apodemus Division | Apodemus (Old world field mice) | - striped field mouse (A. agrarius)
- Alpine field mouse (A. alpicola)
- small Japanese field mouse (A. argenteus)
- A. avicennicus
- Chevrier's field mouse (A. chevrieri)
- South China field mouse (A. draco)
- Western broad-toothed field mouse (A. epimelas)
- yellow-necked mouse (A. flavicollis)
- Himalayan field mouse (A. gurkha)
- Caucasus field mouse (A. hyrcanicus)
- Sichuan field mouse (A. latronum)
- Eastern broad-toothed field mouse (A. mystacinus)
- Ward's field mouse (A. pallipes)
- Korean field mouse (A. peninsulae)
- Black Sea field mouse (A. ponticus)
- Kashmir field mouse (A. rusiges)
- Taiwan field mouse (A. semotus)
- large Japanese field mouse (A. speciosus)
- wood mouse (A. sylvaticus)
- Ural field mouse (A. uralensis )
- Steppe field mouse (A. witherbyi)
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Tokudaia (Ryukyu spiny rats) | - Muennink's spiny rat (T. muenninki)
- Ryukyu spiny rat (T. osimensis)
- Tokunoshima spiny rat (T. tokunoshimensis)
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Arvicanthis Division | Arvicanthis (Unstriped grass mice) | - Abyssinian grass rat (A. abyssinicus)
- Sudanian grass rat (A. ansorgei)
- Blick's grass rat (A. blicki)
- Nairobi grass rat (A. nairobae)
- Neumann's grass rat (A. neumanni)
- African grass rat (A. niloticus)
- Guinean grass rat (A. rufinus)
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Desmomys | - Harrington's rat (D. harringtoni)
- Yalden's rat (D. yaldeni)
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Lemniscomys (Striped grass mice) | - Barbary striped grass mouse (L. barbarus)
- Bellier's striped grass mouse (L. bellieri)
- Griselda's striped grass mouse (L. griselda)
- Hoogstraal's striped grass mouse (L. hoogstraali)
- Senegal one-striped grass mouse (L. linulus)
- Buffoon striped grass mouse (L. macculus)
- Mittendorf's striped grass mouse (L. mittendorfi)
- single-striped grass mouse (L. rosalia)
- Rosevear's striped grass mouse (L. roseveari)
- typical striped grass mouse (L. striatus)
- Heuglin's striped grass mouse (L. zebra)
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Mylomys | - African groove-toothed rat (M. dybowskii)
- Ethiopian mylomys (M. rex)
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Pelomys (Groove-toothed creek rats) | - Bell groove-toothed swamp rat (P. campanae)
- Creek groove-toothed swamp rat (P. fallax)
- Hopkins's groove-toothed swamp rat (P. hopkinsi)
- Issel's groove-toothed swamp rat (P. isseli)
- least groove-toothed swamp rat (P. minor)
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Rhabdomys | - mesic four-striped grass rat (R. dilectus)
- four-striped grass mouse (R. pumilio)
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Chrotomys Division | Apomys | - Luzon Cordillera forest mouse (A. abrae)
- Luzon Aurora forest mouse (A. aurorae)
- Mount Banahaw forest mouse (A. banahao)
- Mount Tapulao forest mouse (A. brownorum)
- Camiguin forest mouse (A. camiguinensis)
- Luzon montane forest mouse (A. datae)
- large Mindoro forest mouse (A. gracilirostris)
- Mount Apo forest mouse (A. hylocoetes)
- Mindanao montane forest mouse (A. insignis)
- Mount Irid forest mouse (A. iridensis)
- Mindanao lowland forest mouse (A. littoralis)
- Lubang forest mouse (A. lubangensis)
- Luzon giant forest mouse (A. magnus)
- small Luzon forest mouse (A. microdon)
- Mount Mingan forest mouse (A. minganensis)
- least forest mouse (A. musculus)
- long-nosed Luzon forest mouse (A. sacobianus)
- Sierra Madre forest mouse (A. sierrae)
- Luzon Zambales forest mouse (A. zambalensis)
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Archboldomys | - Mount Isarog shrew-mouse (A. luzonensis)
- Large Cordillera shrew-mouse (A. maximus)
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Soricomys | |
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Chrotomys (Luzon striped rats) | - Isarog striped shrew-rat (C. gonzalesi)
- Mindoro striped rat (C. mindorensis)
- Sibuyan striped shrew-rat (C. sibuyanensis)
- blazed Luzon shrew-rat (C. silaceus)
- Luzon striped rat (C. whiteheadi)
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Rhynchomys (Shrewlike rats) | - Banahao shrew-rat (R. banahao)
- Isarog shrew-rat (R. isarogensis)
- Labo shrew-rat (R. labo)
- Mingan shrew-rat (R. mingan)
- Mount Data shrew-rat (R. soricoides)
- Tapulao shrew-rat (R. tapulao)
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- See also
- Colomys–Golunda
- Hadromys–Maxomys
- Melasmothrix–Mus
- Oenomys–Pithecheir
- Pogonomys–Pseudomys
- Rattus
- Stenocephalomys–Xeromys
- Otomys
- Others
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Taxon identifiers |
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Rhabdomys dilectus | |
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