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Lesser mole rat - SPALAX LEUCODON
Possibly Endangered
Class: Animals with Milk Glands (Mammalia)
The Name "Rat": "Rat" comes from the Old English word
"raet," for the animal. This animal is indeed a rat, and not closely related to moles, although it does live underground.
Location: Northern Africa, Middle East, and eastern Europe.
Habitat: Terrestrial. Varied, from sea level to 8500 feet.
Description: This rat’s coat is dark gray or yellowish-gray. The body is stocky and cylindrical, the legs are short, and the tail virtually nonexistent. The toes of the feet do not have especially strong claws, which is not what one might expect in a burrowing animal. The incisors, on the other hand, are powerful and stick out conspicuously. There is no outer ear and the eyes are atrophied and covered with fur. This rat can reach a foot in length, and about ten ounces in weight.
Behavior: This rat is solitary. Active both day and night, it spends its life building tunnels and underground burrows, almost never going into the open. Its head, which is thickset and strong, and the powerful incisors are excellent tools for digging. Its feet are used for removing the earth. The tunnels, which are not very deep, run among the roots, tubers, and bulbs of the plants on which it feeds.
Reproduction: In autumn during the mating period, the female builds a mound of earth about sixteen inches high, in the middle of which is a chamber. Here she delivers and rears two to four young after a one-month gestation.
Go to the Rodents Page to learn more about all the gnawing animals.
Or go to the Rat Index to study other
rats.
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