Dassie rat Petromus typicus Least concern
Where the dassie rat lives – recorded in 2 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.
Pin and shaded countries are approximate. The pin is a representative wild sighting (a central record among 44 open-licence GBIF records), not an official range. Method · Records on GBIF · See mice, rats & other rodents on the world map
| Scientific name | Petromus typicus |
|---|---|
| Group | Mice, rats & other rodents |
| Status | Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label) |
| Found in | 2 countries |
| Continents | Africa |
| Class | Mammal |
| Order | Rodentia |
| Family | Petromuridae |
Where does the dassie rat live?
Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the dassie rat in 2 countries and territories across Africa.
Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.
Is the dassie rat endangered?
The dassie rat’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.
What kind of animal is the dassie rat?
The dassie rat (Petromus typicus) is a mammal in the order Rodentia and the family Petromuridae, genus Petromus. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)
About the dassie rat
The dassie rat or noki (Petromus typicus) is a diurnal African rodent native to rocky outcrops in Namibia, parts of Angola, and northwestern South Africa. It is the only living member of its genus, Petromus, and family, Petromuridae. Key features of the dassie rat include a flattened skull and flexible ribs, allowing it to squeeze into extremely narrow rock crevices. The name "dassie" means "hyrax" in Afrikaans, and the two animals are found in similar habitats.
Petromus means "rock mouse" and dassie rats are one of many rodents sometimes called rock rats. The family and genus names are sometimes misspelled as Petromyidae and Petromys. The species is currently listed as Least Concern by the IUCN.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Dassie rat (revision 1379782121), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q838740 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).
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