25.

Dark-colored Brush-furred Rat

Lophuromys aquilus

French: Rat-hérissé du Kilimandjaro / German: Dunkle Birstenhaarmaus / Spanish: Rata de pelaje de cepillo de dorso OScuro

Taxonomy. Mus aquilus True, 1892,

“Mount Kilima-Njaro at an elevation of 8,000 feet [= 2600 m],” Tanzania.

Lophuromys aquilus was initially considered a species of Mus and then a species of Lophuromys by G. Dollman in 1909. Before molecular and morphometric analysis by W. N. Verheyen and colleagues in 2007, L. aquilus was synonymized with L. flavopunctatus, with new specimens allowing more precise morphometric analyses. G. G. Musser and M. D. Carleton in 2005 removed it from L. flavopunctatus but gave it a greater geographical distribution and many synonyms. Verheyen and colleagues in 2007 restricted its distribution to the Mount Kilimanjaro mountain forest. F. Dieterlen in 2008 and 2013 still considered it a synonym of L. flavopunctatus, an opinion not followed by A. Monadjem and colleagues in 2015 or here. Monotypic.

Distribution. Mt Kilimanjaro, N Tanzania.

Descriptive notes. Head—body 117-145 mm, tail 66-84 mm, ear 14-5-19-7 mm, hindfoot 20-24 mm; weight 36-80 g. Discrete sexual dimorphism has been reported. The Dark-colored Brush-furred Rat is characterized by long and narrow rostrum and narrow zygomatic plate. Karyotype is 2n = 68.

Habitat. Mountain forest and moorlands at elevations of 1700-3600 m. Dark-colored Brush-furred Rats are found in different habitats on slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro including cultivated fields, shrubby areas, degraded mountain forest, and mountain forest and alpine moorland—all characterized by more than 2000 mm of rainfall/year, important variation in intensity of daily sunshine (clear to misty), and high temperature fluctuations between day and night (regular nightly frost occurs in moorlands).

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. No information.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Not assessed on The [UCN Red List. The Dark-colored Brushfurred Rat was considered a synonym of the Buffsspotted Brush-furred Rat ( L. flavopunctatus), which was classified as Least Concern.

Bibliography. Corti et al. (2000), Dieterlen (2008, 2013g), Dollman (1909), Monadjem et al. (2015), Mulungu et al. (2008), Musser & Carleton (2005), Stanley et al. (2014), Verheyen, Hulselmans, Dierckx, Mulungu et al. (2007), Verheyen, Hulselmans, Dierckx & Verheyen (2002).