Guinean grass rat
Arvicanthis rufinus (Temminck, 1853)
The guinean grass rat (Arvicanthis rufinus) is a species in the family Muridae, order Rodentia. Recorded adults weigh about 89.8 g and live up to 6.65 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
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Quick facts about the guinean grass rat
- Weight
- 89.8 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 6.65 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 6.7 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 22 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4.86src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 45 days – 55.4 dayssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 3.5src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- Day and night (cathemeral)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the guinean grass rat live?
Not recorded
What is the guinean grass rat?
The Guinean grass rat (Arvicanthis rufinus) is a species of rodent in the family Muridae.
It is found in Benin, Ghana, Togo, possibly Cameroon, possibly Central African Republic, possibly Ivory Coast, possibly Guinea, possibly Liberia, and possibly Sierra Leone.
Its natural habitats are moist savanna, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, arable land, pastureland, and urban areas.
From the Wikipedia article “Guinean grass rat” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Guinean_grass_rat&oldid=1384655896), 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 guinean grass rat endangered?
The guinean grass 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. What the categories mean.
How is the guinean grass rat classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderRodentia
- familyMuridae
- genusArvicanthis
- SpeciesArvicanthis rufinus (Temminck, 1853)
Synonyms Arvicanthis mordax, Arvicanthis occidentalis, Arvicanthis setosus, Mus rufinus
Other names and names in other languages (8)
- Guinean ArvicanthisEnglish
- Guinean ArvicanthisEnglish
- Rufous grass ratEnglish
- Rote GrasratteGerman
- Guinea-GrasratteGerman
- Rat roussard guinéenFrench
- ギニアサバンナネズミJapanese
- kusu gwinejskiPolish
Relatives of the guinean grass rat
Other species in the same genus Arvicanthis.
African grass rat
Arvicanthis niloticus
Neumann's grass rat
Arvicanthis neumanni
Blick's grass rat
Arvicanthis blicki
Abyssinian grass rat
Arvicanthis abyssinicus
Nairobi grass rat
Arvicanthis nairobae
Sudanian grass rat
Arvicanthis ansorgei
CompareGuinean grass rat vs African grass ratGuinean grass rat vs Neumann's grass ratGuinean grass rat vs Blick's grass ratGuinean grass rat vs Abyssinian grass rat
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the guinean grass rat?
An adult guinean grass rat weighs 89.8 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the guinean grass rat endangered?
The guinean grass rat is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the guinean grass rat live?
The guinean grass rat has a recorded lifespan of 6.65 years.
How long is the guinean grass rat pregnant?
The recorded gestation period is 22 days.
What kind of animal is the guinean grass rat?
The guinean grass rat (Arvicanthis rufinus) belongs to the family Muridae 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 - 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).
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Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Guinean grass rat (Arvicanthis rufinus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/guinean-grass-rat
“Guinean grass rat (Arvicanthis rufinus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/guinean-grass-rat.
@misc{guinean_grass_rat_2026,
title = {Guinean grass rat (Arvicanthis rufinus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/guinean-grass-rat},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}