573.

White-footed Ethiopian Rat

Stenocephalemys albipes

French: Rat a pattes blanches / German: Weilful 3-Hochlandratte / Spanish: Rata de Etiopia de pies blancos

Other common names: Ethiopian White-footed Mouse, White-footed Stenocephalemys

Taxonomy. Mus albipes Ruppell, 1842,

“Massaua [= Massawa],” Ethiopia .

Stenocephalemys albipes was previously placed in Praomys, but it is clearly associated with other species of Stenocephalemys based on morphological, chromosomal, and molecular data. Monotypic.

Distribution. Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Descriptive notes. Head—body 107-171 mm, tail 134-195 mm, ear 17-30 mm, hindfoot 25-32 mm; weight 40-79 g. Fur is sleek and long, sandy-brown above, and pale gray below; upper and lower surfaces are well demarcated. Tail is very long (c.125% of head-body length), black above, white below, and appearing naked butlightly furred. Eyes have faint dark rings. Ears are gray, large, rounded, and finely furred. Hindfeet and forefeet are white, with dark markings over metatarsals. Females have five pairs of nipples. Chromosomal complement is 2n = 46 and FN = 50-53.

Habitat. Forest, grassland, and scrub habitats associated with montane forests and hedgerows around small rural human settlements at elevations of 1500-3300 m, but down to 820 m at Godare Forest.

Food and Feeding. The White-footed Ethiopian Rateats berries and green leaves of forest plants; very few animal remains have been found in stomachs.

Breeding. Breeding occurs year-round, with peaks of pregnancy in late wet season (September—November). Gestation is 23 days. Litters have 2-8 young.

Activity patterns. The White-footed EthiopianRat is nocturnal, terrestrial, and semiarboreal, using small trees close to the ground.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Mean home range length was 29 m for females and 65 m for males. Home ranges of males overlapped, but those offemales did not. In the wild, longevity is less than a year; in captivity, it is c.3 years.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red Lust.

Bibliography. Bekele (1995, 1996a, 1996b), Corti, Castiglia et al. (2005), Corti, Scanzani et al. (1999), Happold (2013a), Monadjem et al. (2015), Rupp (1980), Yalden & Largen (1992).