Black-tailed tree rat

The black-tailed tree rat (Thallomys nigricauda), also called the black-tailed acacia rat or black-tailed thallomys, is a rodent of the family Muridae that lives in southwestern Africa, in Angola, Namibia, Botswana and northwestern South Africa. It is a medium-sized rat with a head and body length of about 135 mm and a tail of about 145 mm, slate grey fur tinged with yellow, white underparts and a long tail covered in black scales and bristles. It inhabits dry savanna and thorny scrubland with woodland patches, and is nocturnal and arboreal, an agile climber that favours Vachellia erioloba trees where it builds bulky nests of grass, leaves and twigs in crevices, forks of branches or under bark. It may live alone or with offspring, and a pair may share a nest. It forages in the upper canopy in the first hours of the night and before dawn, eating mainly leaves and buds, the outer layers of acacia seed pods, gum and the occasional insect, and it needs no drinking water because its food supplies enough. The species is common, widely distributed and assessed by the IUCN as of least concern.