26.

Short-tailed Brush-furred Rat

Lophuromys brevicaudus

French: Rat-hérissé a queue courte / German: Kurzschwanz-Blirstenhaarmaus / Spanish: Rata de pelaje de cepillo de cola corta

Taxonomy. Lophuromys brevicaudus Osgood, 1936,

“Mount Albasso [= Mount Badda], Chilalo Mountains, Arusi, Ethiopia (northeast side of mountains at edge of heather). Alt. 10,700 ft. [= 3261 m].”

Lophuromys brevicaudus is in flavopunctatus species group. It was discriminated by chromosomal, morphometric, and genetic studies and rehabilitated by L. A. Lavrenchenko and colleagues in 1998 and 2007 and by Lavrenchenko in 2013, and kept separate by A. Monadjem and colleagues in 2015. Monotypic.

Distribution. Restricted to high plateaus W & E of the Rift Valley of S Ethiopia.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 96-134 mm, tail 50-66 mm, ear 15-19 mm, hindfoot 19-22 mm; weight 29-60 g. The Short-tailed Brush-furred Rat is small, with tail ¢.50% of head-body length, dull gray speckled dorsum, and gray-cream venter. Females have three pairs of mammae. Karyotype is 2n = 68.

Habitat. Afro-alpine grasslands, Erica (Ericaceae) bushland, and mountain forest at elevations above 2400 m.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. Pregnant Short-tailed Brush-furred Rats can be found at the end of the dry season and beginning of the rainy season and have 2-3 embryos.

Activity patterns. Short-tailed Brush-furred Rats are active day and night.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Short-tailed Brush-furred Rats can be abundant in heathlands on the Bale Mountains. They are not aggressive toward each other.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Near Threatened on The IUCN Red List. The Short-tailed Brush-furred Rat is known only from a small area (less than 20,000 km?) subjected to habitat destruction.

Bibliography. Aniskin et al. (1997), Lavrenchenko (2013), Lavrenchenko, Milishnikov et al. (1997), Lavrenchenko, Verheyen & Hulselmans (1998), Lavrenchenko, Verheyen, Verheyen et al. (2007), Milishnikov et al. (2000), Monadjem et al. (2015).