Dassie rat
Petromus typicus A. Smith, 1831
The dassie rat (Petromus typicus) is a species in the family Petromuridae, order Rodentia. Recorded adults weigh 212 g to 224 g and live up to 7.07 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the dassie rat
- Weight
- 212 g – 224 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 7.07 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1.69src for Young per litter or clutch
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the dassie rat live?
Not recorded
What is the dassie rat?
The dassie rat or noki (Petromus typicus) is a diurnal African rodent native to rocky outcrops in Namibia, parts of Angola, and northwestern South Africa. It is the only living member of its genus, Petromus, and family, Petromuridae. Key features of the dassie rat include a flattened skull and flexible ribs, allowing it to squeeze into extremely narrow rock crevices. The name "dassie" means "hyrax" in Afrikaans, and the two animals are found in similar habitats.
Petromus means "rock mouse" and dassie rats are one of many rodents sometimes called rock rats. The family and genus names are sometimes misspelled as Petromyidae and Petromys. The species is currently listed as Least Concern by the IUCN.
From the Wikipedia article “Dassie rat” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dassie_rat&oldid=1379782121), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the dassie rat endangered?
The dassie rat is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the dassie rat classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderRodentia
- familyPetromuridae
- genusPetromus
- SpeciesPetromus typicus A. Smith, 1831
Synonyms Petromus typicus ausensis, Petromus typicus barbiensis, Petromus typicus cinnamomeus, Petromus typicus coetzeei, Petromus typicus cunealis, Petromus typicus greeni, Petromus typicus guinasensis, Petromus typicus karasensis, Petromus typicus kobosensis, Petromus typicus majoriae, Petromus typicus namaquensis, Petromus typicus pallidior, Petromus typicus tropicalis, Petromus typicus typicus, Petromus typicus windhoekensis
Other names and names in other languages (19)
- NokiEnglish
- Rock ratEnglish
- DassierotAfrikaans
- جرذ الوبرArabic
- krysa skalníCzech
- Skalní krysyCzech
- FelsenratteGerman
- rata damánSpanish
- rata roquera africanaSpanish
- namibiankalliorottaFinnish
- Rat typique des rochersFrench
- Rat des rochers du NamibieFrench
- アフリカイワネズミJapanese
- KlipperotteNorwegian Bokmål
- skałoszczur skalnyPolish
- skałoszczur właściwyPolish
- Rato-damãoPortuguese
- Скальная крысаRussian
- Kaya sıçanıTurkish
Relatives of the dassie rat
Other species in the same order Rodentia.
House mouse
Mus musculus
Red squirrel
Sciurus vulgaris
Guinea pig
Cavia porcellus
Capybara
Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris
Muskrat
Ondatra zibethicus
Eurasian beaver
Castor fiber
CompareDassie rat vs House mouseDassie rat vs Red squirrelDassie rat vs Guinea pigDassie rat vs Capybara
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the dassie rat?
An adult dassie rat weighs 212 g – 224 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the dassie rat endangered?
The dassie rat is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the dassie rat live?
The dassie rat has a recorded lifespan of 7.07 years.
What kind of animal is the dassie rat?
The dassie rat (Petromus typicus) belongs to the family Petromuridae in the order Rodentia.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Dassie rat (Petromus typicus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/dassie-rat
“Dassie rat (Petromus typicus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/dassie-rat.
@misc{dassie_rat_2026,
title = {Dassie rat (Petromus typicus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/dassie-rat},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}