443.

Mount Cameroon Shaggy Rat

Dasymys longipilosus

French: Dasymys du Cameroun / German: Kamerun-Wollhaarratte / Spanish: Rata peluda de Camerun

Other common names: Long-haired Dasymys, Long-haired Shaggy Rat, Mount Cameroon Dasymys

Taxonomy. Dasymys longipilosus Eisentraut, 1963,

Musaka Hut, southern slope of Mount Cameroon, 2200 m, Cameroon.

Dasymys longipilosus was formerly included in either D. incomtusor D. rufulus, but was shown by S. K. Mullin and colleagues in 2004 to be distinctive. The species is small and has a particularly dark pelage and short tail compared with other members of genus. Monotypic.

Distribution. Endemic to Mt Cameroon above 2000 m, W Cameroon.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 158 mm, tail 130 mm, ear 22 mm, hindfoot 22 mm.;: No specific data are available for body weight. The Mount Cameroon Shaggy Rat has fur soft, shaggy, and long-haired, and is dark reddish-brown dorsally and dull gray ventrally. Head is broad with short muzzle, vibrissae long, and ears rounded and well furred on inside. Tail is relatively short (80% of head-body length), heavily scaled, sparsely haired, and darker above than below.

Habitat. Swampy areas in wetlands.

Food and Feeding. The Mount Cameroon Shaggy Rat is presumably herbivorous,like other members of genus.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. Mount Cameroon Shaggy Rats are presumably crepuscular and diurnal.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Not assessed on The IUCN Red Lusi.

Bibliography. Eisentraut (1963), Monadjem et al. (2015), Mullin, Pillay & Taylor (2004), Mullin, Taylor & Pillay (2004).