The link rat (''Deomys ferrugineus'') is a species of rodent in the family

Muridae The Muridae, or murids, are either the largest or second-largest family of rodents and of mammals, containing approximately 870 species, including many species of mice, rats, and gerbils found naturally throughout Eurasia, Africa, and Australia. ...

. It is also known by the common name Congo forest mouse.Schlitter, D. & Kerbis Peterhans, J. 2008
''Deomys ferrugineus''.
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.3. Downloaded on 10 April 2015. It is native to central Africa. It is 12–14.5 cm long with a 15–21 cm long tail. It weighs 40–70 g. It has long legs and a pointed, narrow head, surmounted by enormous ears. It has a very long, bicoloured

tail The tail is the elongated section at the rear end of a bilaterian animal's body; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage extending backwards from the midline of the torso. In vertebrate animals that evolution, evolved to los ...

. The back and

forehead In human anatomy, the forehead is an area of the head bounded by three features, two of the skull and one of the scalp. The top of the forehead is marked by the hairline, the edge of the area where hair on the scalp grows. The bottom of the fo ...

are rich orange and brown and the underside is white. The rump hairs are stiff. The link rat is

nocturnal Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...

and

crepuscular In zoology, a crepuscular animal is one that is active primarily during the twilight period, being matutinal (active during dawn), vespertine (biology), vespertine/vespertinal (active during dusk), or both. This is distinguished from diurnalit ...

. It prefers seasonally flooded

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

floors between

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

and the

Victoria Nile The White Nile ( ') is a river in Africa, the minor of the two main tributary, tributaries of the Nile, the larger being the Blue Nile. The name "White" comes from the clay sediment carried in the water that changes the water to a pale color. ...

. It has a widespread but scattered distribution and is seldom common. It feeds mainly on

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

slug Slug, or land slug, is a common name for any apparently shell-less Terrestrial mollusc, terrestrial gastropod mollusc. The word ''slug'' is also often used as part of the common name of any gastropod mollusc that has no shell, a very reduced ...

s and some fallen

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

s, notably

palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae ** List of Arecaceae genera **Palm oil * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music ...

-nut husks. The link rat has traditionally been placed as a member of the subfamily

Dendromurinae Dendromurinae is a subfamily of rodents in the family Nesomyidae and superfamily Muroidea. The dendromurines are currently restricted to Africa, as is the case for all extant members of the family Nesomyidae. The authorship of the subfamily has ...

along with the African climbing mice, but has been demonstrated to be more closely related to the

spiny mice The term spiny mouse refers to any species of rodent within the genus ''Acomys''. Similar in appearance to mice of the genus '' Mus'', spiny mice are small mammals with bare tails which contain osteoderms, a rare feature in mammals. Their coats a ...

on the basis of

molecular A molecule is a group of two or more atoms that are held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions that satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, ...

data. A new subfamily (

Deomyinae The subfamily Deomyinae consists of four genera of mouse-like rodents that were previously placed in the subfamilies Murinae and Dendromurinae. They are sometimes called the Acomyinae, particularly in references that antedate the discovery that t ...

) was created which contains this species plus the

(''Acomys''), the brush furred mice (''Lophuromys''), and Rudd's mouse (''Uranomys''). This group is supported by several recent phylogenetic studies.Lecompte, E., et al. (2008)
Phylogeny and biogeography of African Murinae based on mitochondrial and nuclear gene sequences, with a new tribal classification of the subfamily.
''BMC Evolutionary Biology'' 8(1), 199.

References

Further reading