Thicket rats
| Thicket rats | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Thamnomys | ||||||||||||
| Thomas , 1907 |
The thicket rats ( Thamnomys ) are a genus of rodents from the group of old world mice (Murinae). The genus includes three types.
The head trunk length of the thicket rats is 12 to 16 centimeters, the tail is 16 to 22 centimeters long and the weight is 50 to 100 grams. The fur is often long and soft, it is colored reddish brown to dark brown on the back, the belly is whitish-gray. The long tail is hairy.
These rodents are found only in the mountain forests in the border area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo , Uganda , Rwanda and Burundi . They are nocturnal and sleep in self-made leaf nests that they set up in hollow tree trunks. You probably live solitary. Their diet consists of leaves and seeds.
Wilson & Reeder (2005) distinguish the following three types:
- Thamnomys kempi in the area of the Virunga volcanoes and adjacent mountainous countries,
- Thamnomys major in the Kivu region in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (only one specimen of this species is known) and
- Thamnomys venustus in the Ruwenzori area.
The thicket rats are systematically part of the Oenomys group within the old world mice.
The IUCN lists T. kempi and T. venustus as "endangered" ( vulnerable ), T. major is not recognized.
literature
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. 2 volumes. 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD et al. 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 .
- Don E. Wilson , DeeAnn M. Reeder (Eds.): Mammal Species of the World. A taxonomic and geographic Reference. 2 volumes. 3. Edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 .
