Beamys hindei Thomas 1909

35.

Hinde’s Long-tailed Pouched Rat

Beamys hindei

French: Petit Rat-hamster / German: Kleine Hamsterratte / Spanish: Rata de abazones de Hinde

Other common names: Hinde's Pouched Rat

Taxonomy. Beamys hindei Thomas, 1909,

“ Taveta, Coast region [= Kenya], British East Africa. Alt. 2000’ [= 610 m].”

Some authorities have considered it conspecific with B. major, but it is morphologically distinct from that species and occupies a different habitat. Monotypic.

Distribution. Coastal plains and montane areas of E Kenya and Tanzania.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 125-155 mm, tail 114-127 mm, ear 20-23 mm, hindfoot 22-25 mm; weight 49-76 g. Hinde’s Long-tailed Pouched Ratis medium-sized, with well-developed cheek pouches. Fur is soft and gray dorsally, shading to pure white ventrally. Chin, throat, and upper chest are white. Ears are relatively large. Tail is long and prehensile, with conspicuous white markings. Limbs are relatively short and white, with four digits on forefeet and five digits on hindfeet. Males are on average larger than females, with considerable overlap in measurements between sexes.

Habitat. Coastal forests and woodlands below elevations of 400 m (but up to 1200 m in the Usambara Mountains), typically on sandy soils. Hinde’s Long-tailed Pouched Rat enters fallow fields and cassava plantations. Sandy soils might facilitate burrow excavation, in which it rests during the day and stores cached seeds and fruits. Another important factor appears to be a dense shrub layer, but reasons for that are not known.

Food and Feeding. Hinde’s Long-tailed Pouched Rat mostly eats fruits and seeds, which may be cached in burrows. Insects are also eaten but constitute a smaller proportion of the diet.

Breeding. Juveniles and reproductively active males and females appear throughout the year suggesting aseasonal breeding, but the proportion oflactating female Hinde’s Long-tailed Pouched Rats appears to increase during seasonal rains. A large proportion of males are scrotal throughout the year, but individuals enter reproductive condition at different times of the year. Gestation in captivity is 22-23 days, with average litter size of 2-8 young (1-5). Neonates have an average weight of 3-2 g and are pink. Lactation lasts for 5-6 weeks. Growth is rapid, with young reaching 43 g at c.4 weeks old. Longevity is 3—4 years. Equivalent parameters for wild populations are not known.

Activity patterns. Hinde’s Long-tailed Pouched Rat is nocturnal and relatively slow moving. [tis mostly terrestrial but may also climb, using its prehensile tail to assist with negotiating thin branches.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Home ranges ofadult male Hinde’s Long-tailed Pouched Rats are larger than those of females. Densities in good-quality habitat are relatively stable at 14-31 ind/ha.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Although Hinde’s Long-tailed Pouched Rat is not currently under threat of extinction, it occupies a rapidly disappearing habitat. Its future survival depends on continued protection of coastal and montane forests in Kenya and Tanzania.

Bibliography. Christensen (1987), Egoscue (1972), Fitzgibbon et al. (1995), Happold (2013e), Hubbard (1970), Monadjem et al. (2015), Sabuni et al. (2015), Stanley & Goodman (2011).