436.

Thomas’s Rock Rat

Aethomys thomasi

French: Aethomys de Thomas / German: Thomas-Buschlandratte / Spanish: Rata de roca de Thomas

Other common names: Thomas's Aethomys, Thomas's Veld Rat

Taxonomy. Mus thomasi de Winton, 1897,

Galanga, Angola.

Aethomys thomasi was previously listed as a subspecies of A. kaiser. Monotypic.

Distribution. Central Plateau of Angola.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 140-162 mm, tail 112-135 mm, ear 20-25 mm, hindfoot 25-31 mm; weight 60-120 g. No specific data are available for body weight. A medium-sized rat, Thomas's Rock Rat has fur grizzled reddish brown dorsally and grayish white ventrally. Ears are rounded and reddish brown. Tail is relatively long (c.106% of head—body length) and scaled, covered with short stiff hairs, and uniformly brown. Limbs are short and stout, with four digits on forefoot and five digits on hindfoot.

Habitat. Uncertain, but may be associated with termite mounds.

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 Least Concern on The IUCN Red List.

Bibliography. Crawford-Cabral (1998, 1999), Happold (2013a), Hill & Carter (1941), Monadjem et al. (2015).