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

Muridae The Muridae, or murids, are the largest family of rodents and of mammals, containing approximately 1,383 species, including many species of mice, rats, and gerbils found naturally throughout Eurasia, Africa, and Australia. The name Muridae come ...

. 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 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 fore ...

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

nocturnal Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...

and

crepuscular In zoology, a crepuscular animal is one that is active primarily during the twilight period, being matutinal, vespertine, or both. This is distinguished from diurnal and nocturnal behavior, where an animal is active during the hours of daylig ...

. It prefers seasonally flooded forest floors between Cameroon and the Victoria Nile. It has a widespread but scattered distribution and is seldom common. It feeds mainly on insects, crustaceans,

slug Slug, or land slug, is a common name for any apparently shell-less 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 shell, or only a smal ...

s and some fallen fruits, notably palm-nut husks. The link rat has traditionally been placed as a member of the subfamily Dendromurinae along with the African climbing mice, but has been demonstrated to be more closely related to the spiny mice on the basis of

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

data. A new subfamily (Deomyinae) has now been created, which contains this species, plus the spiny mouse (''Acomys''), the brush furred mice (''Lophuromys'' spp.), 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.

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Further reading