440.

Silinda Rock Rat

Aethomys silindensis

French: Aethomys du Selinda / German: Silinda-Buschlandratte / Spanish: Rata de roca de Selinda

Other common names: Selinda Aethomys, Silinda Aethomys, Selinda eld Rat, Silinda Veld Rat

Taxonomy. Aethomys silindensis Roberts, 1938,

Chirinda Forest, Mt Selinda, E Zimbabwe.

Aethomys silindensis was previously listed as a subspecies of A. chrysophilus. Monotypic. Distribution. Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe and neighboring W Mozambique.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 155- 200 mm, tail 166-194 mm, ear 21-25 mm, hindfoot 32-35 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. The Silinda

Rock Rat is a large-sized rat with fur coarse and buffy brown to dark brown dorsally and pale gray ventrally. Ears are medium-sized and brown. Tail is long (103-110% of head-body length) and coarsely scaled with fine hairs, brownish above and paler below. Limbs are relatively short, the foreand hindfeet dorsally yellowish-brown, with four digits on forefoot and five on hindfoot.

Habitat. Rocky areas and thick vegetation in montane grasslands.

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 Data Deficient on The IUCN Red List. The Silinda Rock Rat is only known only four localities.

Bibliography. Chimimba (1998), Chimimba et al. (1999), Happold (2013a), Monadjem et al. (2015), Smithers (1983).