The rock dormouse or flat-headed African dormouse (''Graphiurus platyops'') is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

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 Gliridae. It is found in

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Eswatini Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where i ...

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

, and

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

where it lives among rocks in upland areas. It is a fairly common, mainly nocturnal species and the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

has assessed its conservation status as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

Description

The rock dormouse is a moderate sized species with a head-and-body length of and a tail of , weighing between . The fur on the back is soft, smooth and rather long, being around on the rump with guard hairs of . The dorsal colour varies from grey to some shade of greyish-brown. The underparts are white or cream tinted with grey, and there is a sharp line demarcating the junction between the dorsal and ventral colouring. The crown matches the colour of the back but the muzzle is paler. The ears are fairly large and rounded and the eyes are large. There is a conspicuous mask around the eyes and the cheeks are white, this colour extending in a band to the shoulders. The hind feet are usually white but may have dark streaks on top. The tail has short fur near the base and longer hair near the tip, where the hair may be as long as . It is grey or greyish-brown, flecked with white, and has a white tip.

Distribution

The rock dormouse 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 ...

to southern Africa. Its range extends through southern Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, central Mozambique, eastern Botswana, northeastern South Africa and northwestern Eswatini, mostly at altitudes above . Its typical habitat is in rocky outcrops, in kopjes (rocky, elevated areas on an otherwise flat plain), krantzes (steep rock faces) and piles of boulders, sometimes in association with the yellow-spotted rock hyrax and the rock hyrax. It has been found in scrubby thickets in a dried up stream bed in Mozambique, and in caves in South Africa.

Ecology

The rock dormouse lives in cracks and crevices in rocky places, its cranium being flattened to enable it to pass through narrow apertures. It is mostly nocturnal but is sometimes active early in the morning. The diet is

omnivorous An omnivore () is an animal that regularly consumes significant quantities of both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize ...

, and includes seeds, green plant material and insects such as

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

s. It is a solitary animal and warns off intruders by lashing its tail and emitting soft warning calls. If the intruder persists, a different, more aggressive call is used, and a fight may erupt.

Status

The rock dormouse is a fairly common species in suitable habitat and faces no particular threats. It occurs in several protected areas and the

has assessed its conservation status as being of "

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5413708 Graphiurus Mammals described in 1897 Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas Taxonomy articles created by Polbot