第 1398 號，共 1 402 號

African crested rat

Lophiomys imhausi

需要看醫生不要碰很少致命，但如果有人碰了或吃了牠，要去看醫生。

皮膚裡有毒吃：植物有毒（碰或吃會中毒），不是有毒液

The African crested rat is a large, nocturnal rodent with long hair and a bushy tail. It looks a little like a porcupine. It lives in East Africa, where it is the world's only known poisonous rodent, coating itself in plant toxins to keep predators away.1

有毒還是有毒液？有毒液的動物會用咬或螫把毒液注入身體。有毒的動物則是碰到或吃下去會有害。這種動物是有毒的（碰或吃會中毒）。

分布在

Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya in East Africa1

非洲

首頁

It lives in drier highland forests and woodlands, and its range reaches from near sea level in Ethiopia and Somalia. It is often found in rocky areas, in hollow tree trunks and holes along the tops of ravines, and nesting among rocks on cliff faces.1

長度

18 cm 到 30 cm (7,1 in 到 1 ft)1

體重

590 g 到 920 g (1,3 lb 到 2 lb)1

最高速度

大約 5 km/h（3,1 mph）

在陸地上, 粗略估計

牠吃什麼？

In the wild it eats mostly leaves, fruit and other plant material. In captivity it has also been known to eat meat, cereals, root vegetables and insects. It sits on its haunches and uses its forepaws to bring food to its mouth.1

African crested rat 的照片 — African crested rat。照片：Kevin Deacon。 CC BY-SA 4.0, iNaturalist.

怎麼認出牠

Large, nocturnal rodent with long, silver and black-tipped guard hairs over a woolly grey and white undercoat1
A mane of longer black-and-white banded hairs runs from the top of the head to just beyond the base of the tail1
A broad, white-bordered strip of glandular skin sits beside the mane, and it becomes visible when the animal is threatened1
Bushy tail and short black fur on the face and limbs1
Superficially resembles a porcupine1

毒素力量

皮膚裡有毒

牠的皮膚有毒。碰、舔或吃牠都很危險。

牠的毒素有什麼作用？

This animal is poisonous rather than venomous, so it does not bite or sting to inject poison. It smears poison from the bark of the poison arrow tree onto the hairs of its glandular skin patch. A predator that bites it can be sickened or even killed by this poison.1

牠對人有多危險？

對人的危險: 嚴重如果有人碰了或吃了牠，要去看醫生。死亡案例非常罕見。

Its poison is a risk to predators that try to bite it. The rat itself is not harmed by the toxins it stores.1

牠害怕時會做什麼？

When threatened or excited, the mane stands up and the glandular strip parts, exposing the skin that carries the poison.1

如果有人碰了或吃了牠

如果有人吃了牠，或吃了之後出現症狀：立刻打緊急電話或打給毒物諮詢中心。

一定要先打緊急電話（112、000、911）。這是一般急救指引，不是醫療建議。急救基本知識

注意安全

絕對不要碰、抓或捉弄野生動物，就算是很小的動物，就算牠看起來在睡覺或已經死了也一樣。
給牠空間。如果遇到了，保持冷靜，慢慢往後退，讓牠自己離開。
如果你碰了或吃了牠：不要揉眼睛或摸嘴巴，把手洗乾淨，並且就醫。

牠不是想來抓你。牠的毒只是為了不讓別的動物吃掉牠。更多安全知識

在世界上的哪裡？

非洲亞洲歐洲北美洲南美洲澳洲與大洋洲

牠有多大？

牠有多長？

牠有多重？

跟 8 根香蕉一樣重

跟 10 塊玩具積木排成一排一樣長可以在 72 秒內跑完 100 公尺（最快的人類需要 9.6 秒）

African crested rat 跟「你」比起來有多大？

只是在你的瀏覽器裡做算術。什麼都不會儲存，也不會傳送到任何地方。

牠有多快？

一個正在走路的人 大約 5 km/h (3,1 mph)

African crested rat 大約 5 km/h (3,1 mph)

騎腳踏車的小朋友 大約 12 km/h (7,5 mph)

值得知道

小知識

It is the world's only known poisonous rodent.1

It is the only rodent known to use and store toxins from a different species in nature to protect itself, and it suffers no known harm from them.1

Its stomach has five anatomically distinct sections, a feature found in very few rodents.1

The skull is covered with small bony projections that give it a pebbled look.1

Its large size may allow microbes in its foregut to break down cellulose from plants by fermentation.1

破解迷思

迷思： The maned rat was believed to be solitary.

真相： It is now known to be somewhat sociable. Several animals are found in the same territory, and they purr and groom one another, so they may form family groups of a male, a female and their young.1

給毒液專家

學名: Lophiomys imhausi
類群: 其他有毒動物
家人: Muridae2
排序: Rodentia
各大洲: 非洲
寶寶: Litters have 1 to 3 young. The young are slightly haired at birth, their eyes open by day 13, and they are weaned by day 40.1
牠在野外的狀況: Least Concern1
對人的危險: 3 / 5: 嚴重3