Arvicanthus niloticus - #1390

African Grass Rat
Standing on rock, side view. Also as African Arvicanthus.
Geographic Distribution

Grassland and bush of Sahelian and northern Sudanian savannas, steppe, and semidesert in subsaharan N Africa, primarily in anthropogenic habitats, from Senegal (north of Gambia River), S Mauritania eastward through Mali, Burkina Faso, C and S Niger , and C and S Chad to Sudan and western half and EC portion of Ethiopia; north along the Nile Valley through Egypt; south through NE Dem. Rep. Congo, Uganda, S Burundi, and W Tanzania into E Zamibia, where the population is isolated from the nearest one in SW Tanzania. There is a record from N Malawi (1 skull only, living animals never found, and the species also occurs in SW Arabian Peninsula (SW Yemen and W Oman).

Order/Family
Muridae
Genus
Arvicanthus
Specific Epithet
niloticus
Image Location
Czech Republic, Prague Zoological Park
Image Date
October 10, 1996
Photographer
M Andera