574.

White-tailed Ethiopian Rat

Stenocephalemys albocaudatus

French: Rat 4 queue blanche / German: Weil 3schwanz-Hochlandratte / Spanish: Rata de Etiopia de cola blanca

Other common names: Ethiopian Narrow-headed Rat, White-tailed Stenocephalemys

Taxonomy. Mus albocaudata [sic] Frick, 1914,

Inyala Camp, Chilalo Mountains, southern Ethiopia .

Genus Stenocephalemys is masculine, so widely used specific name albocaudata has been changed for gender agreement. Monotypic.

Distribution. E of Rift Valley, SC Ethiopia.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 106-195 mm, tail 112-175 mm, ear 24-32 mm, hindfoot 21-36 mm; weight 83-198 g. The White-tailed Ethiopian Rat is soft-furred and conspicuously larger than the other three species of Stenocephalemys . Fur is dark sandy-brown to ginger above, brownish on flanks, and grayish white below; upper and lower surfaces are well demarcated by yellow line. Tail is long (c.86% of head-body length), white above and below and mostly naked. Eyes have dark rings. Ears are large, gray, and lightly furred. Hindfeet and forefeet are white. Females have five pairs of nipples. Chromosomal complementis 2n = 54 and FN = 60-62.

Habitat. Alpine moorlands at elevations above 3000 m.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. Restricted to the wet season (May—October). Mean number of embryosis 3-6.

Activity patterns. The White-tailed Ethiopian Rat is presumably nocturnal and terrestrial.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as [east Concern on The IUCNRed List (asS. albocaudata).

Bibliography. Happold (2013a), Lavrenchenko et al. (1999), Monadjem etal. (2015), Sillero-Zubiri et al. (1995a, 1995b), Yalden & Largen (1992), Yalden et al. (1976).