Red rock rat
| Red Rock Rat | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Muridae |
| Genus: | Aethomys |
| Species: | A. chrysophilus |
| Binomial name | |
|
Aethomys chrysophilus (de Winton, 1897) |
|
The red rock rat, or red veld rat, (Aethomys chrysophilus) is a species of rodent in the family Muridae native to southern Africa.
The red rock rat is a rat-sized murine rodent. Adults have a head-body length of 12 to 17 cm (4.7 to 6.7 in), with a long, 13 to 20 cm (5.1 to 7.9 in), tail, and weigh from 40 to 114 g (1.4 to 4.0 oz). Males are not significantly larger than females. The fur on the upper body and flanks is mostly reddish-brown, but mixed with dark brown or black hairs, producing an overall colour that varies from orange-yellow or cinnamon to medium brown. The underparts are white or very pale grey, with a clear dividing line from the fur elsewhere on the body. The head is robust, with a heavy snout. Females have three pairs of teats.
Although red rock rats can be distinguished from most other species of the genus Aethomys by their size or bodily proportions, they appear essentially identical to Tete veld rats, and can only be reliably distinguished from them by genetic analysis or examination of the shape of their spermatozoa.
Red rock rats are widely distributed across southern Africa, although the exact southern edge of their range is difficult to determine because of their extreme physical similarity to Tete veld rats, which are found in South Africa and Swaziland. Nonetheless, red rock rats are currently believed to live in east Africa from southern Kenya, through eastern Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe to the north-eastern border regions of South Africa. Further west, they are found through most of Zambia and Botswana to northern Namibia and south-western Angola.
Across this region, red rock rats inhabit savannah or woodland areas with dense vegetation or rocky cover below 1,000 m (3,300 ft) elevation. They are often associated with miombo and mopane forest, but appear able to tolerate a wide range of habitats, so long as substantial ground cover is available.
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Wikipedia