THE MOUNT OKU RAT

THE MOUNT OKU RAT

The Mount Oku rat is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is a species of rodents found only in Cameroon. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist Montane forest. The Montane forest in which this rodent is found is in on Mount Oku in the North West region of Cameroon.
It is threatened by habitat loss.
SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum:   Chordata
Class:        Mammalia
Order:      Rodentia
Family:    Muridae
Genus:     Lamottemys
Species:   Lamottemys okuensis
The name Muridae comes from the Latin Mus (genitive muris), meaning “mouse”
HABITAT
Murids are found nearly everywhere in the world. Some subfamilies however have narrower ranges. They are not found in many oceanic islands and Antarctica. The Mount Oku rat is the only species from the family Muridae found only in Cameroon and in Oku precisely. They have excellent senses of hearing and smell.  They are very good climbers and that can be seen on how they climb up and down trees at mount oku
DIET AND DENTITION
The Mount Oku rat is an omnivore. It feeds on little plants and animal matter. The Mount Oku rat has sciurognathous jaws and a diastema too. They lack canines and premolars hence feed on small animal and plant matter. However molars exist. They have powerful jaw muscles and gnawing incisors that grow throughout life. The dental formula of murids is   1.0.0.1-3                                                                                                                               
                                                                                         1.0.0.1-3
The Mount Oku Rat has a number of unique traits and characters. It gathers small stones (pebble) in from of its nitch (burrow).
The pebbles are left night so dew can be gathered. In the morning, the Mount Oku rat then drinks the dew on the pebbles. This is a clever move from the Rat. After that it retires and gets into its burrow and the cycle continues.
REPRODUCTION
The Mount Oku Rat reach the age of breeding at about 6 to 8 weeks. Pregnancy lasts for around 20 days and the litter of about three young is born blind and hairless as a good majority of rodents are. It takes about 14 days for the eyes to be opened and weaning is completed after about 28 days. Personally, I have not been able to study the complete lifespan of the Mount Oku Rat but its presumed to live for about 2 years on its own.