483.

Hopkins’s Groove-toothed Swamp Rat

Pelomys hopkinsi

French: Pélomys de Hopkins / German: Hopkins-Furchenzahn-Bachratte / Spanish: Rata de ciénaga de dientes

estriados de Hopkins

Other common names: Hopkins Pelomys

Taxonomy. Pelomys (Komenys) hopkinsi Hayman, 1955,

Rwamachuchu, Gombolola, Rukiga County, Kigezi District, Uganda.

Pelomys hopkinsis closely related to P. isseli, the two belonging to subgenus Komemys. Monotypic.

Distribution. Restricted to a few localities in SW Uganda, Rwanda,Burundi, NW Tanzania, and W Kenya.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 116— 127 mm, tail 135-166 mm, ear 15-17 mm, hindfoot 30-32 mm; weight 41-68 g. Hopkins’s Groove-toothed Swamp Rat is a medium-sized rodent with grooved upper incisors and long tail. Fur is blackish, speckled with tawny or ocherous, above and on flanks, and slate-gray with buff tinge below. Distinct black stripe extends from mid-back to base oftail. Nose is gingery-orange. Ears are covered with short rufous hairs on inner surface, with outer surface pale except for band of black hairs on upper surface. Forefeet have first digit very reduced and fifth digit reduced, with claw; hindfeet have all digits clawed, second to fourth digits long, first and fifth short. Tail is long (c.135% of head—body length), bicolored, blackish above and dirty white below. Females usually have 1+2 = 3 pairs of nipples.

Habitat. Swamps.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. No information.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Data Deficient on The IUCN Red List.

Bibliography. Bekele & Schlitter (1989), Happold (2013a), Hayman (1955), Monadjem et al. (2015).