The link rat (''Deomys ferrugineus'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is also known by the common name Congo forest mouse.Schlitter, D. & Kerbis Peterhans, J. 2008
''Deomys ferrugineus''.
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.3. Downloaded on 10 April 2015. It is native to central Africa. It is 12–14.5 cm long with a 15–21 cm long tail. It weighs 40-70 g. It has long legs and a pointed, narrow head, surmounted by enormous ears. It has a very long, bicoloured

tail The tail is the section at the rear end of certain kinds of animals’ bodies; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage to the torso. It is the part of the body that corresponds roughly to the sacrum and coccyx in mammal ...

. The back and forehead are rich orange and brown and the underside is white. The rump hairs are stiff. The link rat is nocturnal and crepuscular. It prefers seasonally flooded

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

floors between

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

and the

Victoria Nile The White Nile ( ar, النيل الأبيض ') is a river in Africa, one of the two main tributaries of the Nile, the other being the Blue Nile. The name comes from the clay sediment carried in the water that changes the water to a pale color. ...

. It has a widespread but scattered distribution and is seldom common. It feeds mainly on

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group can ...

s, slugs and some fallen

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

s, notably

palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae **List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm (ba ...

-nut husks. The link rat has traditionally been placed as a member of the subfamily

Dendromurinae Dendromurinae is a subfamily of rodents in the family Nesomyidae and superfamily Muroidea. The dendromurines are currently restricted to Africa, as is the case for all extant members of the family Nesomyidae. The authorship of the subfamily h ...

along with the African climbing mice, but has been demonstrated to be more closely related to the

spiny mice The term spiny mouse refers to any species of rodent within the genus ''Acomys''. Similar in appearance to mice of the genus '' Mus'', spiny mice are small mammals with bare, scaled tails. However, their coats are endowed with unusually stiff gu ...

on the basis of molecular data. A new subfamily (Deomyinae) has now been created, which contains this species, plus the

spiny mouse The term spiny mouse refers to any species of rodent within the genus ''Acomys''. Similar in appearance to mice of the genus '' Mus'', spiny mice are small mammals with bare, scaled tails. However, their coats are endowed with unusually stiff gu ...

(''Acomys''), the brush furred mice (''Lophuromys'' spp.), and

Rudd's mouse Rudd's mouse or the white-bellied brush-furred rat (''Uranomys ruddi'') is the only member of the genus ''Uranomys''. This animal is closely related to the spiny mice, brush-furred mice, and the link rat. Description Head and body sizes ran ...

(''Uranomys''). This group is supported by several recent phylogenetic studies.Lecompte, E., et al. (2008)
Phylogeny and biogeography of African Murinae based on mitochondrial and nuclear gene sequences, with a new tribal classification of the subfamily.
''BMC Evolutionary Biology'' 8(1), 199.

References

Further reading