Southern African vlei rat

Southern African Vlei Rat
Otomys irroratus, the Southern African Vlei rat, grazing beside a reed-fringed dam.
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Muridae
Genus:	Otomys
Species:	O. irroratus
Binomial name
Otomys irroratus (Brants, 1827)

The Southern African Vlei Rat (Otomys irroratus) is a species of rodent in the Otomys genus ("vlei rats") of the family Muridae. This is the type species of the genus.^[1] The range extends from the far South Western Cape of South Africa, around the southern and eastern coast and adjacent interior, to subtropical regions in southern Natal. This part of its range includes Lesotho. Further north it no longer occurs around the actual coast. Inland however, its range extends north to tropical areas, nearly to the northern boundary of the Transvaal, including parts of Swaziland. An apparently isolated population occurs still further north in tropical eastern Zimbabwe and adjacent Mozambique.^[2] Its habitats include temperate low-altitude swamps and grassland, and subtropical and tropical high-altitude grassland, swamps, and plantations.

References

1. Genus Otomys, Mammal Species of the World, 3rd ed.
2. Mills, Gus and Hes, Lex (1997). The Complete Book of Southern African Mammals. Cape Town: Struik Publishers. ISBN 0947430555.

• Musser, G.G.; Carleton, M.D. (2005). "Superfamily Muroidea". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 894–1531. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
• Taylor, P., Maree, S. & Monadjem, A. 2004. Otomys irroratus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 19 July 2007.