Foods and foraging places of rats (Rodentia: Muridae) in the lowland evergreen forest of Ghana

Abstract

A study was made of the foods and ground-zone foraging places of Muridae in littledisturbed moist evergreen forest in Ghana, West Africa. Data were obtained by means of baited traps operated for about SO00 trap-nights, and by the examination of the contents of 218 stomachs.Seven species of rats were found, of which six are believed to be members of the natural forest fauna. Foraging places of rats of some species were found to be related to features of the topography and the structure of the vegetation. Diets consisted of vegetable materials, insects and soft-bodied invertebrates. The relative importance of these categories is estimated for each species on the basis of a non-microscopical volumetric method. Plant tissues were recognized by histological features, but were not identified. The variety of vegetable foods, numbers and sizes of food masses in the stomachs, and sharing of vegetable foods between species are analysed. Cases of ecological isolation are pointed out, and a brief comparison made with the Central African forest murid fauna.

Distribution and abundance of small mammals in different habitat types in the Owabi Wildlife Sanctuary, Ghana

“…Similarly, most studies of terrestrial small mammals in West African forests found P. tullbergi to be the dominant species. For example, in western Ghana, Cole (1975) and Jeffrey (1977) recorded P. tullbergi as the most dominant rodent in a lowland evergreen forest and primary forest, new farms and cocoa plantations. The same was reported for some Nigerian forests (Iyawe, 1989;Oguge, 1995).…”

Seasonal changes in small mammal assemblage in Kogyae Strict Nature Reserve, Ghana

“…(Decher and Bahian, 1999). Most small mammal studies in forests in Ghana have reported P. tullbergi as the dominant species (Cole, 1975;Jeffrey, 1977;Ofori et al, 2013b). In this study however, H. alleni was the most abundant forest-specialist species, even though the numerical difference in individual numbers between these species was not as large as their relative abundance scores might suggest.…”

Habitat preferences of small mammals in the Katavi ecosystem of western Tanzania

“…Our current understanding of the habitat preferences of rodents and insectivores in Africa is weak because studies have been conducted in different ecosystems, each with different study objectives, methodologies and lengths of study periods (e.g. Delany, 1971; Cole, 1975; Cheeseman & Delany, 1979; Iwaye, 1989; Stephenson, 1993; Sillero‐Zubiri, Tattersall & Macdonald, 1995; Keesing, 1998; Granjon et al. , 2002).…”