34.

Buff-spotted Brush-furred Rat

Lophuromys flavopunctatus

French: Rat-hérissé a taches jaunes / German: Gelbflecken-Blrstenhaarmaus / Spanish: Rata de pelaje de cepillo moteado

Other common names: Ethiopian Buff-spotted Brush-furred Rat, Yellow Spotted Brush-furred Rat

Taxonomy. Lophuromys flavo-punctatus Thomas, 1888,

“Shoa [= Shewa Province],” Ethiopia.

Lophuromys flavopunctatus was considered widespread from Ethiopia to East and Central Africa, but various authors restricted its distribution to Ethiopia only. Different morphological, morphometric, cytogenetic, and molecular studies successively rehabilitated L. brunneus, L. simensis, L. zaphiri, and L. aquilus to distinct species. Lophuromys flavopunctatus is very similar to L. brunneus but have different cytotypes and some genetic distance. Monotypic.

Distribution. Known from several localities W of the Rift Valley, Ethiopia.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 125-129 mm, tail 58-68 mm, ear 17-19 mm, hindfoot 23-25-3 mm; weight 69 g. The Buffspotted Brush-furred Rat is small, with speckled red-brown dorsum; venter is pale red. Tail is relatively short, ¢.50% of head-body length.

Habitat. Poorly known but various Ethiopian habitats at elevations of 1900-3000 m

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 Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Recent separation from other similar taxa (L. aquilus, L. brunneus, L. dudui, L. verhageni, and L. zena) and subsequent distributional restriction of the Buff-spotted Brush-furred Rat to south-western Ethiopia make necessary a reassessment ofits conservation status.

Bibliography. Lavrenchenko et al. (2007), Monadjem et al. (2015), Verheyen et al. (2007).