Gambian hamster rat
| Gambian hamster rat | ||||||||||||
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Gambian hamster rat |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Cricetomys gambianus | ||||||||||||
| Waterhouse , 1840 |
The Gambian giant hamster rat ( Cricetomys gambianus ), also known as the hamster rat or Gambia rat, is one of the largest representatives of the mouse relatives .
Appearance
The adult animals have a body length of 35 to 40 centimeters and a tail length of 37 to 45 centimeters. The weight of the animals is about 1 to 1.5 kilograms. The fur on the back and head is yellow-brownish, the belly is lighter in color. The paws are bare.
Way of life
The animals are good swimmers and climbers. You are mostly lonely at night. In search of food, such as termites, snails, grains, but also peanuts, corn and avocados, they roam their territory, which they defend against other species. In the large cheek pouches they transport food and building materials in their underground building, which is divided into storage, bedroom and nursery.
distribution
This species occurs in the tropical forests and the adjacent savannah areas in central, west, south and east Africa.
Reproduction
The gestation period for females is 6 weeks and a litter usually consists of 2 to 4 young, which are born naked and blind. These are looked after by the female alone in a nest.
Use by humans
Humans have been breeding this species for a long time for use as food ( rat meat ) and recently also as pets . In countries like Tanzania and others, these animals are used to search for land mines and diagnose tuberculosis .
Specialty
The fur of these animals often houses smaller, wingless, blind earwigs that live on the remains of the animals' food.
Danger
Since no threats are known to this species and it also occurs in protected areas, the IUCN classifies it as ( Least Concern ) not endangered.
See also
- Apopo - NGO that trains sniffer rats to search for landmines and for rapid detection of tuberculosis
Web links
- Cricetomys gambianus inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015.4. Posted by: E. van der Straeten, J. Kerbis Peterhans, K. Howell, N. Oguge, 2008. Retrieved February 7, 2016.
- Cricetomys gambianus in the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS)
literature
- David Burnie (Ed.), Mariele Radmacher-Martens: Animals: The large picture encyclopedia with over 2,000 species. Translated from the English by Gabriele Lehari. Dorling Kindersley, Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-8310-2232-8 , p. 126.
- Wilhelm owner (ed.), Erna Mohr: Encyclopedia of the animals. Volume 2, Weltbild, Augsburg 1991, ISBN 978-3-89350-361-2 , p. 435.
- Encyclopedia of Mammals. Könnemann, 2003, ISBN 3-89731-928-4 , pp. 646, 647.
- George Robert Waterhouse: Ona new Genus of the Family Muridae and Order Rodentia . In: Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London . tape 8 , 1840, p. 1–3 ( online [accessed November 29, 2014]).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Rats can smell tuberculosis. Pulmonologists online, December 23, 2019, accessed May 1, 2020 .