Mammals of the WorldShort-tailed Bandicoot Rat
Nesokia indica
- Order
- Rodentia
- Family
- Muridae
- Genus
- Nesokia
- IUCN status
- LC
- Distribution
- Egypt|Israel|Palestine|Jordan|Syria|Turkey|Iraq|Saudi Arabia|Iran|Turkmenistan|Uzbekistan|Afghanistan|Tajikistan|China|Pakistan|India|Nepal|Bangladesh
- Realm
- Palearctic|Indomalaya
Other names: Pest Rat|Short-tailed Nesokia
About this species
- Size
- Length 165–218mm
- Weight
- 182–388g
- Diet
- Grasses, grains, roots and cultivated fruit and vegetables
- Habitat
- River valleys, lake sides, irrigated land and oases; damp places
- Range
- Xinjiang to Egypt and Uzbekistan to Bangladesh
- Litter size
- 3–5 pups; three generations a year
- Gestation
- Believed about 17 days
The short-tailed bandicoot rat, also called the short-tailed mole-rat or Indian bandicoot, is generally brown above and lighter below, sometimes with a white patch on the throat. The broad feet and the tail are scantily haired. It is 165–218 mm long and weighs 182–388 g. It lives in river valleys, by lake sides, in irrigated land and in oases from Xinjiang to Egypt and south to Bangladesh (Wikipedia, general species account).
It is nocturnal and spends most of its time in a burrow of many tunnels and chambers, up to about 60 cm deep and 9 m long, with one chamber lined with vegetation for a nest. It prefers damp places and does considerable damage to crops by its burrowing. It feeds on grasses, grains, roots and cultivated fruit and vegetables. Breeding starts in March and may continue all year in warm-winter regions, with three generations a year and three to five pups per litter (Wikipedia, general species account).
Description: Wildlife of India guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)