NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Crested Rat
Lophiomys imhausi Milne-Edwards, 1867
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Lophiomys imhausi, Maned Rat
Kevin Deacon · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 320 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The maned rat or African crested rat (Lophiomys imhausi) is a large nocturnal, long-haired and bushy-tailed East African rodent that superficially resembles a porcupine. The world's only known poisonous rodent, the maned rat coats itself in toxins from plants to fend off predators.
Wikipedia contributors, Maned rat; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:11:27.173875+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Lophiomys imhausi Milne-Edwards, 1867
- Name authority
- Milne-Edwards, 1867
- Common name
- Crested Rat
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Rodentia
- Family
- Cricetidae
- Genus
- Lophiomys
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderRodentia Bowdich, 1821
- suborderMyomorpha Brandt, 1855
- superfamilyMuroidea Illiger, 1811
- familyCricetidae Fischer, 1817
- subfamilyLophiomyinae Milne-Edwards, 1867
- genusLophiomys Milne-Edwards, 1867
- speciesLophiomys imhausi Milne-Edwards, 1867
Close classified relatives
No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Lophiomys bozasi Oustalet, 1902 Oustalet, 1902 | synonym |
| Lophiomys thomasi Heller, 1912 Heller, 1912 | synonym |
| Lophiomys ibeanus hindei Thomas, 1910 Thomas, 1910 | synonym |
| Lophiomys ibeanus Thomas, 1910 Thomas, 1910 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=632701 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3W28F. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.