465.

Macmillan’s Thicket Rat

Grammomys macmillani

French: Grammomys de Macmillan / German: Macmillan-Akazienmaus / Spanish: Rata de matorral de Macmillan

Other common names: Macmillan’s Grammomys

Taxonomy. Thamnomys macmillani Wroughton, 1907,

Wouida, north ofLake Rudolph (= Lake Turkana), Ethiopia.

Grammomys macmillani is not easily distinguished from G. dolichurus,but is genetically closest to G. ibeanus . Monotypic.

Distribution. Patchy butwidespread in savanna habitats from Sierra Leone E to South Sudan and extreme S Ethiopia, and S to Kenya and Tanzania; range possibly extends farther S to Malawi, Mozambique,

and E Zimbabwe.

Descriptive notes. Head—body 98-110 mm, tail 149-186 mm, ear 15-21 mm, hindfoot 22-27 mm; weight 31-60 g. Macmillan’s Thicket Rat has fur olive brown to gray above and bright rufous brown in rump area, with sharply demarcated white or creamy-white belly. Tail is very long (160% of head—body length), semi-prehensile, and tufted. Ears have a small rusty-colored post-auricular spot. Feet have four digits on forefoot and five on relatively short hindfoot,fifth digit longer and semi-opposable. Claws are short, as in all members of genus. Females have 1+2 = 3 pairs of nipples. Chromosomal complement has 2n = 68-76.

Habitat. Forested and riparian-forest habitats within savanna. Macmillan’s Thicket Rats may occupy holes in trees and in roofs of huts and houses.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. Macmillan’s Thicket Rat are presumably nocturnal and arboreal.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

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

Bibliography. Hutterer & Dieterlen (1984), Petter & Tranier (1975).