The black-tailed tree rat, also called black-tailed acacia rat or black-tailed thallomys, (''Thallomys nigricauda''), is a species of

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are n ...

in the family Muridae. It is found in

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

and South Africa, where its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is subtropical or tropical dry shrubland. It is both nocturnal and arboreal and makes bulky nests in the trees, often acacias, where it feeds on leaves and buds.

Description

The black-tailed tree rat is a medium-sized rodent with a head-and body length of about and a tail of about . The sides of the face are grey, and a dark band extends from the muzzle to around the eyes and below the ears. The eyes are large and the whiskers are long. The ears are large, oval, and set at an oblique angle. The dorsal fur is long and woolly, slate grey tinged with yellow. The underparts are white, the limbs are grey and the upper sides of the broad feet are white. The long tail is clad in black scales and black bristles, and tipped with black hairs.

Distribution and habitat

The black-tailed tree rat is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to southwestern Africa. Its range includes southwestern Angola, Namibia, Botswana and northwestern South Africa. It inhabits dry savanna, and thorny scrubland with dense patches of woodland or scattered trees such as ''

Vachellia erioloba ''Vachellia erioloba'', the camel thorn, giraffe thorn, or Kameeldoring in Afrikaans, still more commonly known as ''Acacia erioloba'', is a tree of southern Africa in the family Fabaceae. Its preferred habitat is the deep dry sandy soils in pa ...

'', ''

Vachellia luederitzii ''Vachellia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae, commonly known as thorn trees or acacias. It belongs to the subfamily Mimosoideae. Its species were considered members of genus ''Acacia'' until 2009. ''Vachellia'' can ...

'', '' Vachellia karroo'', '' Euclea pseudebenus'', ''

Terminalia sericea ''Terminalia sericea'' is a species of deciduous tree of the genus ''Terminalia'' that is native to southern Africa. Its common names include clusterleaf, silver cluster-leaf or silver terminalia in English, vaalboom in Afrikaans and mususu in Ve ...

,'' and ''

Boscia albitrunca ''Boscia albitrunca'', commonly known as the shepherd tree or shepherd's tree ( af, Witgat, st, Mohlôpi, tn, Motlôpi, ve, Muvhombwe, xh, Umgqomogqomo, zu, Umvithi), is a protected tree in South Africa. The species epithet "albitrunca" ref ...

''.

Ecology

This rat lives in trees and is nocturnal. The broad feet and robust claws make it an agile climber, and it uses its tail for balance as well as

prehensile Prehensility is the quality of an appendage or organ that has adapted for grasping or holding. The word is derived from the Latin term ''prehendere'', meaning "to grasp". The ability to grasp is likely derived from a number of different orig ...

ly. It particularly favours ''Vachellia erioloba'' trees where there are the crevices and holes it needs for its nest, but it also builds nests in the forks of branches or under slabs of bark; there may be several nests in one tree, not all of them occupied. The nest is a bulky affair of grass, leaves and twigs and may be as much as deep, with the nesting material overflowing from the cavity. The nest resembles that of the

red-billed buffalo weaver The red-billed buffalo weaver (''Bubalornis niger'') is a species of bird in the family Ploceidae. It is found in eastern and southern Africa. Its natural habitat is the dry savanna. Description The body length of full grown red-billed buffalo w ...

but is made of finer material. Sometimes these rats are solitary while at other times, there may be an individual and several offspring living together. Both males and females have

home range A home range is the area in which an animal lives and moves on a periodic basis. It is related to the concept of an animal's territory which is the area that is actively defended. The concept of a home range was introduced by W. H. Burt in 1943. He ...

s, the males' ranges being much larger than those of the females. A pair of rats and their offspring may share a nest, moving off at dusk to climb into the canopy where they nibble on young ''Acacia'' shoots, or cross into other large trees such as leadwood and

mopane ''Colophospermum mopane'', commonly called mopane, mopani, balsam tree, butterfly tree, or turpentine tree, is a tree in the legume family (Fabaceae), that grows in hot, dry, low-lying areas, in elevation, in the far northern parts of southern A ...

to feed. The diet mainly consists of leaves and buds, but also includes the outer layers of ''Acacia'' seed pods, occasional insects, and gum that oozes from the branches where the rats create grooves in the bark. The rats are most active in the first few hours of the night and then again in the hours before dawn, and forage in the upper canopy where few other rodents are to be found. It seldom descends to the ground and has no need to drink, deriving sufficient moisture from its food.

Status

The black-tailed tree rat is a common species, has a wide range and is presumed to have a large total population. It faces no particular threats, and the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of nat ...

has assessed its conservation status as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Black-Tailed Tree Rat Thallomys Mammals of Angola Mammals of Botswana Mammals of Namibia Mammals of South Africa Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas Mammals described in 1882 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot