African Grass Rat

The African Grass Rat (Arvicanthis niloticus) is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is mainly distributed in the Sahel and the sudano-zambesian Savanna belt, namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, , Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia. Populations also occur in Algeria, Egypt, and Yemen.

Despite its wide distribution and commonness, little is known about the biology and actual occurrence of the species. Its natural habitats are dry savanna, moist savanna, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, arable land, pastureland, rural gardens, urban areas, irrigated land, and seasonally flooded agricultural land.

References

• Granjon, L. 2004. Arvicanthis niloticus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 9 July 2007.
• Musser, G. G. and M. D. Carleton. 2005. Superfamily Muroidea. pp. 894–1531 in Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.