APPENDIX B 
479 
Arvicanthis pumilio diminutus (Naivasha Striped Rat). Common in Rift Valley, 
and on the Aberdares and around Kenia. Sometimes occurs in company with 
Nairobi mouse, but less widely distributed; much more abundant where found, 
and ascends to much higher altitudes. 
Pelomys roosevelti Heller (n. s.) About the size of our cotton rat, and with much 
the same build. Coarse, bristly hair; the dorsal coloration is golden yellow 
overlaid by long hairs with an olive iridescence; the under parts are silky white. 
It is a meadow mouse found at high altitudes, seven to nine thousand feet high; 
usually lives close to streams in heavy grass, through which it makes runways. 
Not common. 
Saccostomus umhriventer (Sotik Pouched Rat). Heller trapped several on the 
Sotik at the base of the southernmost range of mountains we reached. Found 
in the longish grass along a dry creek bed. Trapped in their rather indistinct 
runways. The pockets or pouches are internal; not external as in our pocket 
mice. 
Tachyroyctes splendens iheanus (Nairobi Mole Rat). A mole rat of B. E. A. with gen¬ 
eral habits of above, but avoiding rocky places, and not generally found many 
miles out on the plains away from the forest. Rarely found in the bamboos^— 
in spite of its name. 
Myoscalops kapiti Heller (n. s.) (Kapiti Blesmole). On the Kapiti and Athi Plains 
and in the Sotik. Smaller than German East African form and no white oc¬ 
cipital spot. A cinnamon wash on its silvery fur. Burrows like our pocket go¬ 
phers, and has same squat look and general habits. Lives in rocky ground, where 
bamboo rat does not penetrate. It does not run just below the surface of the soil, 
as the pocket gopher does in winter. The blesmole’s burrows are about a foot 
below the surface. Eats roots. 
Pedetes surdaster (Springhaas). (See body of book.) One young at birth. A 
colony of four to eight open burrows, all inhabited by a single animal. 
Hystrix gcdeata. (See body of book.) Heller found in stomach the remains of a root 
or tuber and seeds like those of the nightshade. 
Lepus victorice. Generally distributed on plains; much the habits and look of a 
small jack-rabbit. Does not burrow. 
Elephantulus pulcher (Elephant Shrew). Fairly common throughout B. E. A. in 
bush and on hills, not in deep forests or on bare plains. Often out at dusk, 
but generally nocturnal. A gravid female contained a single embryo. One 
in a trap had its mouth full of partly masticated brown ants. A gentle thing, 
without the fierceness of the true shrews. Trapped in the runways of arvi¬ 
canthis. 
Erinaceus albiventris (Hedgehog). Fairly common in the Sotik. In certain places 
under trees Heller found accumulations of their spiny skins, as if some bird 
of prey had been feeding on them. 
Crocidura fisheri. The common shrew of the Athi Plains and the Sotik in the 
Rift Valley. Largely diurnal. Males quite yellowish, females smoky 
brown. Generally trapped in runways of arvicanthis. Pregnant females 
contained three to five embryos, usually four. Not found in heavy forest or 
swamp. 
Crocidura fumosa (Dusky Shrew). A darker form found in the rush swamps and 
sedgy places of the same region. Number of young usually three. Diurnal. 
Occasional in forests. 
