Predators beware! The world’s deadliest rat carries enough toxin to kill an elephant
Did you know there’s a rat poisonous enough to kill an elephant?
Lophiomys imhausi, also known as the crested rat, the maned rat, and the African crested rat, is a deadly rarity says Aoife Glass.
The crested rat is the only known poisonous rodent, and the only known mammal to sequester plant toxins for use as a defense mechanism. One bite is enough to kill.
What does the crested rat look like?
Adult crested rats grow to between 360mm and 530mm head to tail. The small head is covered in short, black fur, while the body and tail have a thick grey and white undercoat with longer guard hairs tipped white or black, together giving the impression of a small, fluffy skunk.
A mane of longer black and white banded hairs stretches the length of the rat from the head to the base of the tail, and this is the crest or mane from which the animal gets its name. When it’s threatened, this mane erects, exposing a band down each side of the body, bordered in white, with specially adapted hairs covering glandular skin.
This has two purposes. The first, like a skunk, is to display warning colouration. The second is to reveal those specially adapted hairs, which contain enough toxin to make any animal that decides to take a bite extremely ill, if not fatally poisoned.
Where does the crested rat live?
Sometimes called the African crested rat, this species lives in forests, savannah and shrubland, favouring rocky terrain, and nesting in hollow tree trunks, holes and hollows. Populations have been observed in Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, United Republic of Tanzania, Keny, Djibouti and Eritrea.
Crested rats seem to be mostly solitary, sometimes living within a small family group of male, female and offspring. Female crested rats have small litters of between one to three offspring.
What does the crested rat eat?
Despite its fearsome reputation, the crested rat’s diet of choice mostly consists of plant material such as leaves and fruit, though it has been known to eat meat, insects and root vegetables.
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