629.

Short-tailed Bandicoot Rat

Nesokia indica

French: Nésokia a queue courte / German: Pestratte / Spanish: Rata bandicut de cola corta

Other common names: Pest Rat, Short-tailed Nesokia

Taxonomy. Arvicola indica [sic] Gray, 1830,

India.

Nesokia indica has an extensive distribution, and studies are needed to investigate its geographical variation. Monotypic.

Distribution. N Egypt (Nile Delta region), SE Israel, WJordan, NE Syria, extreme SE Turkey, Iraq, CW Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkmenistan, W & S Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, W & C Tajikistan, NW China (Xinjiang), Pakistan, N India, W & SC Nepal, and C Bangladesh.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 150-205 mm,tail 91-150 mm, ear 16-23 mm, hindfoot 29-39 mm; weight 96-320 g. The Short-tailed Bandicoot Rat is medium to large and robust, with short rostrum, being significantly smaller than the Longtailed Bandicoot Rat ( N. bunnii). Pelage is coarse, short, harsh, and semi-spinous for the most part, varying in length throughout its distribution. Dorsum is fawn or yellowish brown to grayish brown, with mixed in red patches and occasionally rusty wash. Venter is grayish to whitish and fades into dorsum. Feet are brownish; claws are amber. Ears are short and brownish, with tuft of hair internally. Tail is 55-60% of head-body length, unicolored brown, and covered with short visible hairs. There are four pairs of mammae: one pectoral, one abdominal, and two inguinal. Skull is large and robust, but smaller than the Long-tailed Bandicoot Rat. The nematode Syphacia and the trypanosome Leishmania turanica have been found in the Short-tailed Bandicoot Rat. Chromosomal complement is 2n = 42 (41 in one female), FNa = 54-56.

Habitat. Tropical and subtropical dry deciduous forests, scrublands, grasslands, arable land, pastures, and plantations from sea level to elevations of ¢.1600 m. Short-tailed Bandicoot Rats prefer areas with moist soil near permanent water sources. They are found in more mountainous regions in China.

Food and Feeding. The Short-tailed Bandicoot Rat is herbivorous, subsisting on foods found while digging burrows and plants around their burrow. Diets contain roots, grasses, grains, vegetables, and fruits from cultivated fields. On occasion, large quantities of food is stored, probably as a result of diminishing food resources or seasonal change. In a date palm ( Phoenix dactylifera, Arecaceae) orchard in Balochistan, diet consisted of 37-6% date palm fruit and 18% date palm stems; grasses and other unidentified leaves and roots made up the rest of the diet.

Breeding. Short-tailed Bandicoot Rats seem to reproduce year-round, although activity peaks in monsoon season. Litters have 1-10 young; gestationslast c.17 days. Females can breed multiple times a year, usually c.3 times.

Activity patterns. The Short-tailed Bandicoot Rat is nocturnal; foraging, general movements on the ground’s surface, and probably breeding occur at night. It is terrestrial but primarily fossorial, creating burrow systems in moist soils, consisting of a few to many tunnels, storage chambers, and nesting chamber.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Storage chambers are not lined with vegetation and are expansive; nesting chambers are lined with finely chewed vegetation and are smaller (c.30 cm wide). Burrows are usually 15-60 cm underground and found around permanent bodies of water and have been found in canals. Burrows can be as long as 23 m, although smaller burrows are more common. Runways over the surface connect burrows. Usually, only a single individual or a female with young/ juveniles occupies a burrow.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. The Shorttailed Bandicoot Rat has a wide distribution and is locally common, although distribution is rather scattered. It can cause considerable damage to grain,fruit, and vegetable crops and can destroy irrigation walls by burrowing through them. Use of smoke and flooding burrows and tunnels are common control methods..

Bibliography. Ahmed et al. (2007), Al-Robaae (1977), Beg et al. (1981), Boitani & Molur (2016), Corbet (1978), Corbet & Hill (1992), Hajjaran et al. (2009), Harrison & Bates (1991), Hassinger (1973), Hoath (2003), Hussain et al. (2002), Kamali (1975), Khatoon et al. (2004), Khokhar et al. (1992), Lay (1967), Mohammadi et al. (2012), Musser & Carleton (2005), Prakash (1971), Roberts (1977), Smith & Yan Xie (2008), Taber et al. (1967).