456.

Arid Woodland Thicket Rat

Grammomys aridulus

French: Grammomys du Soudan / German: DarfurAkazienmaus / Spanish: Rata de matorral de bosque arido

Other common names: Arid Thicket Rat, Arid Woodland Grammomys

Taxonomy. Grammomys aridulus Thomas & Hinton, 1923,

“Kulme, Wadi Aribo, [Dar-fur, Sudan]. 3300" [= 1005 m].”

Grammomys aridulus was previously considered a subspecies of G. macmillani . Monotypic.

Distribution. Jebel Marra, W Sudan.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 110- 116 mm, tail 181-188 mm, ear 18 mm, hindfoot 23-24 mm; weight 41-46 g. The Arid Woodland Thicket Rat has fur thatis olive brown above, with bright orange-brown flanks and creamy white venter. Tail is very long (163% of head-body length), semi-prehensile and tufted, darker above and paler below, terminal third with longer hairs. Ears are ocherous tawny on inner and outer surfaces. Feet are creamy buff, with four digits on forefoot and five on relatively short hindfoot, thefifth digit longer and semi-opposable in all members of genus. Females have 1+2 = 3 pairs of nipples.

Habitat. Bushy savanna above 1000 m.

Food and Feeding. Arid Woodland Thicket Rats are presumably herbivorous, feeding on a range of plants and fruits.

Breeding. Reproduction occurs in the wet season.

Activity patterns. Arid Woodland Thicket Rats are nocturnal and arboreal.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Data Deficient on The IUCN Red List. The Arid Woodland Thicket Rat is very sparsely distributed, and few records are known.

Bibliography. Happold (1966b), Hutterer & Dieterlen (1984).