The bush vlei rat or Karoo bush rat (''Myotomys unisulcatus'', formerly ''

Otomys African vlei rats (''Otomys''), also known as groove-toothed rats, live in many areas of sub-Saharan Africa. Most species live in marshlands, grasslands, and similar habitats and feed on the vegetation of such areas, occasionally supplementing ...

unisulcatus'') 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

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 South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. 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 temperate shrubland. The Karoo rat uses behavioral adaptations to cope with the dry arid climate. It is a medium-sized rodent with a dark pelage on top and lighter underneath. It has light colored feet and a dark tail. The rat may have light colored fur around its eyes and the back of its ears.Pillay, . "Reproduction and postnatal development in the bush Karoo rat ''Otomys unisulcatus'' (Muridae, Otomyinae)." ''Journal of Zoology''. Accessed 31 Oct. 2016.

Environment

The Karoo bush rat can be found in the semi-deserts of South Africa. These deserts have extreme temperature fluctuations ranging from below in the winter to over in the summer. The Karoo bush rat unlike most rodents creates a refuge made of interwoven sticks and is sited on the surface. These stick lodges are found in the shrubs of the desert. They can be over 1 m tall and there is only one lodge per bush/shrub. These stick lodges offer protection against the extreme climates, predators, and also a physiological refuge. The temperature variation in the nests are significantly less than the surrounding ambient temperatures with the temperature in the winter being about higher inside the nest than outside and lower during the summer than the outside temperatures. In the Postberg Nature Reserve in coastal Western Cape Province, the rat uses the plant stems of the native bush shrub ''

Exomis The exomis ( grc, ἐξωμίς from ''exo'' "outside", and ''omos'' "shoulder") was a Greek tunic used by the workers and the light infantry. The tunic largely replaced the older chitoniskos (or short chiton) as the main tunic of the hoplites ...

'' to make its lodges.

Reproduction

In the family Muridae the Karoo bush rat has a strong correlation between reproduction, the abundant resources, and the occupation of the stick lodges. ''Myotomys unisulcatus'' has very rapid postnatal development and small litters of semi-precocial young. The average litter size is two to three. Weaning begins at eight days of age and reproduction can begin at six weeks for males and five weeks of age for females.

Diet

The Karoo bush rat is limited in diet due to its dry and arid climate. They are considered herbivores, eating foliage and succulent stems from 60 different plant species. In the winter they consume mostly succulents, in the spring they consume an even mix of succulents, non-succulents, and annual vegetation. In the summer and fall months they consume succulent and annual plants evenly. To gather food they bite off lengths of vegetation and drag them to the entrances of their stick refuges where they will consume the resources gather.Kerley, Graham I., and Theunis Winter. "Fire and the Range Limits of the Bush Karoo Rat ''Otomys unisulcatus''." ''Global Ecology and Biogeography Letters,'', vol. 2. Accessed 31 Oct. 2016.

References

External links

''The Complete Book of Southern African Mammals''
- photo * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1765959 Myotomys Mammals described in 1829 Taxa named by Frédéric Cuvier Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN