Dassie Rat

About the Dassie Rat

The dassie rat or noki (Petromus typicus) is a diurnal African rodent native to rocky outcrops in Namibia, parts of Angola, and northwestern South Africa. It is the only living member of its genus, Petromus, and family, Petromuridae. Key features of the dassie rat include a flattened skull and flexible ribs, allowing it to squeeze into extremely narrow rock crevices. The name "dassie" means "hyrax" in Afrikaans, and the two animals are found in similar habitats.

Petromus means "rock mouse" and dassie rats are one of many rodents sometimes called rock rats. The family and genus names are sometimes misspelled as Petromyidae and Petromys. The species is currently listed as Least Concern by the IUCN.

Dassie rats are squirrel-like in appearance. Their tails are hairy, but not bushy, whereas the soles of their feet are distinctly bare and have pads. Their skull is flattened and their ribs are flexible which helps them to squeeze into tiny rock crevices. Their cheek teeth have two raised ridges that help grind plant material. Their chewing involves a vertical up-and-down motion rather than the typical transverse side-to-side grinding of grazers. The overall coloration... Wikipedia →