Otomys irroratus
Silhouette: T. Michael Keesey · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The Southern African vlei rat (Otomys irroratus) is a species of rodent in the vlei rat genus, Otomys, of the family Muridae in the order Rodentia. This is the type species of the genus. It is native to the grasslands and swamps of southern Africa where it is a common species.
The Southern African vlei rat is a large-sized rat with dense and continuously replaced shaggy fur. The head is large, the ears small, and the tail short. The dorsal parts are generally gray, brown, or black. The ventral parts are some shade of paler or darker grey. All of its digits are clawed, and the hind claws are longer than the fore claws. The head-and-body length is about 160 mm (6.3 in) and the tail about 100 mm (4 in). Both males and females have a similar mean mass of 143.7 g.
The range extends from the far South Western Cape of South Africa, around the southern and eastern coast and adjacent interior, to subtropical regions in southern Natal. This part of its range includes Lesotho. Further north, it no longer occurs around the actual coast. Inland however, its range extends north to tropical areas, nearly to the northern boundary of the Transvaal, including... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Addo Elephant National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a vlei rat sighting in Cape Town on a given day, based on 13 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 19th most-seen of the 29 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September and December–January
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a vlei rat in Cape Town on a given day, against under 5% in February–August and October–November, the lowest months. Those are among Cape Town's driest months, with about 35 mm of rain a month against 140 mm in June.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most vlei rat sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Cape Town, in our data
Cape Town is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate vlei rat sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Muridae
The closest relatives of the vlei rat that you can see in Cape Town (family Muridae, Old World Mice and Rats) are Cape Four-striped Grass Mouse (about 10%) and Brown Rat (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the vlei rat is recorded against all the mammals logged in Cape Town (13 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
