464.

East African Thicket Rat

Grammomys ibeanus

French: Grammomys d'Osgood / German: Ostliche Akazienmaus / Spanish: Rata de matorral de Africa oriental

Other common names: East African Grammomys, Rwenzori Grammomys, Rwenzori Thicket Rat Taxonomy. Thamnomys ibeanus Osgood, 1910, Molo, Kenya. Grammomys ibeanus was previously includ-ed in G. cometes, but molecular data show it to be closer to G. macmillani . Monotypic. Distribution. Occurs quite widely in E Africa associated with mountains of the Rift Valley system and the Eastern Arc, including S South Sudan, E Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, and Mozambique.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 112- 130 mm, tail 129-220 mm, ear 17-21 mm, hindfoot 21-26 mm; weight 27-60 g. Fur of the East African Thicket Rat is dull olive gray above,with sharply demarcated pure white belly, sometimes bordered by thin orange line. Tail is very long (150% of headbody length), semi-prehensile, and tufted. Ears are relatively large, with or without a white post-auricular spot. Feet are yellowish-red, sometimes with silvery hairs, with four digits on forefoot and five on relatively short hindfoot,fifth digit longer and semiopposable. Females have 1+2 = 3 pairs of nipples. Chromosomal complement has 2n = 44-48.

Habitat. Dense vegetation with thickets and trees, including damp evergreen forest and montane forest, at 1900-3600 m. On Mount Elgon, Kenya, East African Thicket Rats are also found in bushy rock outcrops in afro-alpine grasslands above 2750 m. In Malawi they occur also inside houses.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. In Malawi, reproduction occurs during the wet season (November—April) and litter size 2-5.

Activity patterns. East African Thicket Rats are nocturnal and arboreal.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List.

Bibliography. Hanney (1965), Krystufek, Baxter et al. (2008), Monadjem et al. (2015).