Parotomys brantsii
Silhouette: T. Michael Keesey · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
Brants's whistling rat or Brants' whistling rat (Parotomys brantsii) is one of two species of murid rodent in the genus Parotomys. It is found in Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa where its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and pastureland. It was first described in 1834 by the Scottish zoologist Andrew Smith who named it in honour of the Dutch zoologist and author Anton Brants.
Brants's whistling rat is a fairly large species with a short, blunt head. Males have a head-and-body length of about 215 mm (8.5 in) while females are a little smaller. The tail is about two thirds the length of the head-and-body. The tail measures 7.5 to 10.5 cm. The head is greyish-white, with a rufous snout and forehead. The ears are large and rounded, with dark skin and short hairs. The fur is dense and soft; the dorsal pelage is yellowish, speckled with brownish-black, individual hairs having dark grey bases and yellowish tips. There is also a scattering of long, pure black hairs, especially along the spine. The flanks are rather paler, and the ventral pelage is pale grey, the individual hairs having pale grey bases and whitish or pale yellow tips. The legs... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
More parks will be added in future updates.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Brants's Whistling Rat sighting in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park on a given day, based on 5 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 27th most-seen of the 28 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Brants's Whistling Rat in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park on a given day, against under 5% in May to February, the lowest months. That is one of Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park's wettest months, with about 25 mm of rain against almost none in July.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Brants's Whistling 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 Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, in our data
Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Brants's Whistling Rat sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Muridae
The closest relatives of the Brants's Whistling Rat that you can see in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (family Muridae, Old World Mice and Rats) are Cape Four-striped Grass Mouse (about 30%) and Black-tailed Tree Rat (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Brants's Whistling Rat is recorded against all the mammals logged in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (5 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
