The Ghana mole-rat or Togo mole-rat (''Fukomys zechi'') is a species of

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...

in the family Bathyergidae. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

. Its natural habitats are moist

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

, subtropical or tropical dry

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...

, subtropical or tropical dry lowland

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

, caves, and arable land. It commonly breeds during rainy months such as March to August. In a colony, reproduction is limited to one male and one female. An important source of food for the Ghana mole-rats is the succulent roots of most plants. The mole rats eat the roots and taproots of various plants such as ''

Arachis ''Arachis'' is a genus of about 70 species of annual and perennial flowering plants in the family (Fabaceae), native to South America, and was recently assigned to the informal monophyly, monophyletic ''Pterocarpus'' clade of the Dalbergieae. At ...

'', ''

Vigna ''Vigna'' is a genus of plants in the legume family, Fabaceae, with a pantropical distribution.Aitawade, M. M., et al. (2012)Section ''Ceratotropis'' of subgenus ''Ceratotropis'' of ''Vigna'' (Leguminosae–Papilionoideae) in India with a new ...

'', '' Cucumeropsis'' and ''

Dioscorea abyssinica ''Dioscorea abyssinica'' is a herbaceous vine in the genus ''Dioscorea'' native to several Central African countries including Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, ...

'', as well as young ''

Anacardium ''Anacardium'', the cashews, are a genus of flowering plants in the family Anacardiaceae, native to tropical regions of the Americas. The best known species is ''Anacardium occidentale,'' which is commercially cultivated for its cashew nuts and c ...

''.

References

*Woods, C. A. and C. W. Kilpatrick. 2005. pp 1538–1600 ''in'' Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference 3rd ed. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C. Mammals of West Africa Fukomys Endemic fauna of Ghana Mammals described in 1900 Category"Taxa named by Paul Matschie Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{rodent-stub