Tiny African Fat Mouse

Open encyclopedia reference

The tiny fat mouse (Steatomys parvus) is a species of rodent in the family Nesomyidae. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland.

It favours sandy and cultivated areas, rocky hills, open woodland and grassy plains. The depth of its burrow varies between a minimum of 40 cm and one metre; the burrow contains few passageways, with a central chamber filled with fibers and grass.

Wikipedia contributors, Tiny fat mouse; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T12:31:45.072324+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Steatomys parvus Rhoads, 1896

Name authority

Rhoads, 1896

Common name

Tiny African Fat Mouse

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Rodentia

Family

Nesomyidae

Genus

Steatomys

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. suborderMyomorpha Brandt, 1855
13. superfamilyMuroidea Illiger, 1811
14. familyNesomyidae Forsyth Major, 1897
15. subfamilyDendromurinae G. M. Allen, 1939
16. genusSteatomys Peters, 1846
17. speciesSteatomys parvus Rhoads, 1896

Close classified relatives

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

Browse 48 records assigned to Nesomyidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

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.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=632723 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. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

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:6ZHLJ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.