Thicket rat

The thicket rats ( Thamnomys ) are a rodent species from the group of Altweltmäuse ( Murinae ). The genus includes three species.

The body length of the thicket rats is 12 to 16 centimeters, the tail is 16 to 22 inches long and the weight is 50 to 100 grams. The coat is often long and soft, it is at the back reddish brown to dark brown, the belly is whitish - gray. The long tail is hairy.

These rodents are found only in the mountainous forests on the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. They are nocturnal and sleep in self-made sheets nests, which they build in hollow tree trunks. You probably live solitarily. Their diet consists of leaves and seeds.

Wilson & Reeder (2005) distinguish the following three types:

• Thamnomys kempi in the area of the Virunga volcanoes and adjacent highlands,
• Thamnomys major in the Kivu region in the Democratic Republic of Congo (of this kind is only one copy known), and
• Thamnomys venustus in the Rwenzori region.

Systematically, the thicket rats Oenomys part of the group within the Altweltmäuse.

The IUCN lists T. kempi and T. venustus as " endangered" ( vulnerable ), T. major is not recognized.