This species is known from a single specimen, collected in the 1920s near the source of the Little Abbai at Gojjam in northwestern Ethiopia at an elevation of 2,600 m asl, and it may now be extinct. Since then its habitat has been completely destroyed through overgrazing by livestock. Two attempts to find this unique water mouse have failed, leading researchers to fear that it may already be extinct. Listed as Critically Endangered (B2ab(iii)) on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
The habitat was already severely degraded when the type specimen was collected in the 1920s. There is a possibility that this species is already extinct.
No conservation measures are underway for this species. Further surveys to determine the conservation status of this species are urgently needed.
This water-adapted, insectivorous rodent is likely to have occurred at low densities. only from a single specimen, this highly distinctive mouse has more extreme adaptations for swimming than those of any other African murid. These include a large brain, swollen muzzle and extensive vibrissae which may form a sonar system for detecting aquatic invertebrates, reduced and densely furred ears, soft, dense fur for buoyancy, and enlarged hind feet with hairy fringes. Although the feet lack webbing, they are broad enough to be used as paddles for swift, agile swimming.
Species Coordinator
Julian Kerbis Peterhans
Julian is a Professor at Roosevelt University and an Adjunct Curator at the Field Museum of Natural History, both in Chicago, USA. He has has spent the past 20+ years conducting small mammal surveys throughout montane (primarily) and lowland forests of the Albertine Rift and the Kenya Highlands, including research in Kenya, Uganda, DR Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi and Mozambique. Over the course of these activities he has extensively worked with African nationals, both in the field and Chicago and as an academic advisee, on the preparation, identification and publication of specimens from these field activities. To date, six species of small mammals new to science have been described, another 4 species are 'in press', with others in the pipeline. Julian is currently in Uganda on a year long Fulbright scholarship at Makerere University, Kampala. Other local collaborators include the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Centre de Recherché de Scientifique Naturelles (DRC). Exciting results from unprotected areas in the eastern DR Congo should prove instrumental in the formal conservation of Itombwe Forest and the Kabogo-Misotchi Highlands.