POISON ARROW

It looks dashing, but dont be fooled - its hairs are dangerously toxic

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THINK OF A RAT AND YOU'VE ALMOST certainly got a mental image of a medium-sized grey or brown-furred rodent with a thin, naked tail, one of the 56 or so species belonging to the genus Rattus.

However, other rodents also carry the 'rat' moniker. One in particular, the maned or crested rat (Lophiomys imhausi) is so un-rat like that it stands out like a beacon from its rodent cohorts. In fact, it does things so differently that it has been given a sub-family of its own.

Covered in long, shaggy grey hair, with side-stripes of black and white that run the length of its body, a bandit's mask, a white-tipped bushy tail and a bold white eyebrow stripe, it certainly cuts a dash, looking more like a skunk than a rat. When alarmed, it adds to the effect. Muscles under its skin cause the long hairs on its back to stand up, while those below the midline on its flanks become deflected downwards. The result is a parting of the hair along the length of each side of its body.