31.

Mount Oku Brush-furred Rat

Lophuromys dieterleni

French: Rat-hérissé de Dieterlen / German: Mount-Oku-Birstenhaarmaus / Spanish: Rata de pelaje de cepillo de Oku

Other common names: Dieterlen’s Brush-furred Mouse

Taxonomy. Lophuromys dieterleni W. N. Verheyen et al., 1997,

border of the crater lake on Mt Oku, 2100 m, Bamenda-Vanso highlands, West Cameroon .

Lophuromys dieterleniwas described by W. N. Verheyen and colleagues in 1997 based on morphological and morphometric data and considered in aquilus species group by Verheyen and colleagues in 2002. Its validity was later accepted byall authors. New specimens collected at the type locality by C. Denys and colleagues in 2014 were described, and important morphological differences with other taxa were highlighted. Monotypic.

Distribution. Mt Oku, Cameroon.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 113-128 mm, tail 74-77 mm, ear 17-18 mm, hindfoot 20-24 mm; weight 49-62 g. The Mount Oku Brush-furred Rat is distinguished by unspeckled dark brown-gray dorsum and brown venter. Tail is ¢.61% of head-body length. The posterior margin of the palate is rectilinear and the pterygoid processes (U shaped pterygoid fossa) are large and parallel. Molars display stephanodont crests at cusps t3 and t6 of M'* and an anterior cusp on M..

Habitat. Montane forests on Mount Oku above an elevation of 2000 m.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. No information.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Endangered on The IUCN Red List. The Mount Oku Brush-furred Rat has been found in less than 400 km?, and its habitat is negatively impacted by agriculture, pastoralism, and logging.

Bibliography. Denys et al. (2014), Dieterlen (2013g), Eisentraut (1968, 1973), Monadjem etal. (2015), Musser & Carleton (2005), Verheyen, Hulselmans, Colyn & Hutterer (1997), Verheyen, Hulselmans, Dierckx & Verheyen (2002).