Dassie Rat
Petromus typicus
- Class
- Mammal
- Rarity
- Common
- Observations
- 271
- Most observed in
- 🇳🇦 Namibia
- Conservation
- Least Concern
Description
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.
Summary adapted from the Wikipedia article “Dassie rat”.