Ethiopian short-headed rats
| Ethiopian short-headed rats | ||||||||||||
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| Stenocephalemys | ||||||||||||
| Frick , 1914 |
The Ethiopian short-headed rats ( Stenocephalemys ) are a genus of rodents from the group of old world mice (Murinae). The genus includes four species.
These rodents reach a head body length of 12 to 20 centimeters, plus a 11 to 17 centimeter long tail. The weight is around 100 to 140 grams. The fur is soft and dense, it is brownish in color on the back, the paws and the belly are whitish-gray. The name-giving feature is the head that appears compressed and the ears are large.
Ethiopian short-headed rats live in Ethiopia and Eritrea , their habitat are bush and grasslands up to 4000 meters above sea level. They are nocturnal and use the beaten track for faster progress in the dense vegetation. Otherwise, little is known about their way of life.
Systematics
The Ethiopian short head Rats are within the murinae the namesake of Stenocephalemys -Gattungsgruppe, a living African group that acts as yet the genera African smoke mice ( Heimyscus ), African wood mice ( Hylomyscus ) mastomys ( mastomys ) myomyscus (formerly Myomys ) and African soft rats ( Praomys ) includes.
According to genetic studies by Lecompte et al. (2008) the animals of the Stenocephalemys group together with the Colomys group form a radiation of old world mice, the Praomyini, which is widespread in Africa.
Four types are distinguished within the genus:
- Stenocephalemys albipes lives in western Ethiopia and Eritrea.
- Stenocephalemys albocaudata lives in a small area in south-eastern Ethiopia.
- Stenocephalemys griseicauda is native to northern Ethiopia.
- Stenocephalemys ruppi only occurs in a small area in southwestern Ethiopia.
Of S. Ruppi only nine specimens are known, the degree of danger of this type is unclear. The other three species are common and, according to the IUCN, not endangered.
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 .
- Emilie Lecompte, Ken Aplin, Christiane Denys, François Catzeflis, Marion Chades, Pascale Chevret: Phylogeny and biogeography of African Murinae based on mitochondrial and nuclear gene sequences, with a new tribal classification of the subfamily. In: BMC Evolutionary Biology. Vol. 8, 199, 2008, pp. 1-21, doi : 10.1186 / 1471-2148-8-199 .
Web links
- Stenocephalemys on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved October 15, 2009.