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NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD

Flat-headed African Dormouse

Graphiurus (Graphiurus) platyops Thomas, 1897

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.

Graphiurus platyops Map

Graphiurus platyops Map

Ubs6u!d-pongsakorn · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image source

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Open encyclopedia reference

The rock dormouse or flat-headed African dormouse (Graphiurus platyops) is a species of rodent in the family Gliridae. It is found in Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, Eswatini, Zambia, and Zimbabwe where it lives among rocks in upland areas. It is a fairly common, mainly nocturnal species and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of "least concern".

Wikipedia contributors, Rock dormouse; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T12:02:13.678007+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name
Graphiurus (Graphiurus) platyops Thomas, 1897
Name authority
Thomas, 1897
Common name
Flat-headed African Dormouse
Rank
species
Accepted status
accepted
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Mammalia
Order
Rodentia
Family
Gliridae
Genus
Graphiurus
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.

  1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
  2. kingdomAnimalia
  3. phylumChordata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. infraphylumGnathostomata
  6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
  7. megaclassTetrapoda
  8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
  9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
  10. infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
  11. orderRodentia Bowdich, 1821
  12. suborderSciuromorpha Brandt, 1855
  13. familyGliridae Muirhead, 1819
  14. subfamilyGraphiurinae Winge, 1887
  15. genusGraphiurus Smuts, 1832
  16. subgenusGraphiurus Smuts, 1832
  17. speciesGraphiurus (Graphiurus) platyops Thomas, 1897

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Graphiurus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

SpeciesClassificationSource status
Walter Verheyen's African DormouseGraphiurus (Claviglis) walterverheyeni Holden & Levine, 2009GliridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Jentink's DormouseGraphiurus (Claviglis) crassicaudatus (Jentink, 1888)GliridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Common African DormouseGraphiurus (Graphiurus) murinus (Desmarest, 1822)GliridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Lorrain DormouseGraphiurus (Graphiurus) lorraineus Dollman, 1910GliridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Angolan African DormouseGraphiurus (Graphiurus) angolensis de Winton, 1897GliridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Large Savanna African DormouseGraphiurus (Graphiurus) microtis (Noack, 1887)GliridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Christy's African DormouseGraphiurus (Graphiurus) christyi Dollman, 1914GliridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant

Browse 17 records assigned to Gliridae.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Africa

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.

  1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=584963 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:6L3D3. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.