(African) crested rat
The Maned rat (Lophiomys imhausi) is a long-haired and bushy-tailed African rodent that superficially resembles a porcupine. It is the world's only poisonous rodent, that borrows toxins from plants to fend off predators.
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NocturnalNocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal",...
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HerbivoreA herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example, foliage, for the main component of its die...
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FolivoreIn zoology, a folivore is a herbivore that specializes in eating leaves. Mature leaves contain a high proportion of hard-to-digest cellulose, less ...
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FrugivoreA frugivore is an animal that thrives mostly on raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts, and seeds. Approx...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
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ViviparousAmong animals, viviparity is the development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. The term 'viviparity' and its adjective form 'viviparous'...
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SolitaryNo
Not a migrantAnimals that do not make seasonal movements and stay in their native home ranges all year round are called not migrants or residents.
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starts withThe coat of the Maned rat consists of long, silver, and black-tipped guard hairs over a dense, woolly, grey, and white undercoat; the face and limbs are covered with short, black fur. A mane of longer, coarser black-and-white banded hairs extends from the top of the animal's head to just beyond the base of the tail. This mane is bordered by a broad, white-bordered strip of hairs covering an area of glandular skin. The forelimbs and hind limbs have short black fur. The forefeet are large and digit 1 of the forefeet does not have a claw while digits 2-5 have a well-developed claw. When the Maned rat is threatened or excited, its mane erects and this strip parts, exposing the glandular area. The hairs in this area are, at the tips, like ordinary hair, but are otherwise spongy, fibrous, and absorbent with a honeycomb structure. The rat is known to deliberately smear these hairs with poison from the bark of the Acokanthera schimperi, the poison arrow tree, on which it chews, thus creating a defense mechanism that can sicken or even kill predators that attempt to bite it. It is the only rodent known to utilize and store toxins from a different species in nature to protect itself, with no known adverse effects to themselves.
Maned rats occur in Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya. They inhabit highland forests and woodlands, semi-desert, dry and moist savanna, and shrubland. Maned rats are often found in rocky areas or in hollow tree trunks and holes along the tops of ravines and can nest among rocks on cliff-faces.
Maned rats are social animals and are thought to live in family groups of male, female, and offspring. They live on the ground but are very skillful climbers. Maned rats are active during the night spending their time searching for food. They eat food by sitting on their haunches and using their forepaws to bring food items to their mouths. Maned rats are known to groom one another and also use vocal communication; they can purr, snort, hiss, and grunt.
Maned rats are herbivores (folivores, frugivores). They mainly eat leaves, fruit, and other plant material. However, in captivity, they can eat meat, cereals, root vegetables, and insects.
Little is known about the mating system and reproductive habits of Maned rats. The female gives birth to a litter that consists of 1-3 young. They are slightly haired at birth and white markings and black stripes on the body are visible after 9 days. By day 13, their eyes open. The hair is sufficiently long that the crest can be erectile by day 20. The young become mobile by day 23 and are weaned when they are 40 days old.
There are no major threats to this species at present.
The IUCN Red List and other sources don’t provide the number of the Maned rat total population size. Currently, this species is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List, and its numbers today are stable.
