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Giant Gambian pouched rat - CRICETOMYS GAMBIANUS
Possibly Endangered
Class: Animals with Milk Glands (Mammalia)
The Name "Rat": "Rat" comes from the Old English word
"raet," for the animal.
Location: Central Africa.
Habitat: Terrestrial. Wooded plains.
Description: This is one of the largest of all the rats, with large ears and a long, hairless tail. The coat is long and bristly. It is gray above and white beneath and has a sharp separation of the color zones. The cheek pouches can be inflated to a considerable size. Length of head and body 17 inches, tail an additional 19 inches, and weight about three and one half pounds.
Behavior: This nocturnal rat often lives in close association with man, even though it is rarely found in houses. It digs long tunnels with various entrances and several different chambers. The most remote of these is used for nesting and is lined with plant matter of various sorts. The others are used as storerooms for food reserves including seeds and other plant matter.
Reproduction: Gestation lasts six weeks, and two to four young are born at each delivery. The female probably bears more than one litter a year. The females live in a group with their newborn young and older young (up to 30 individuals per group), but the males are more solitary.
Note: This animal is considered to be a delicacy by many Africans.
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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