| Chingawa forest rat | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Muridae |
| Tribe: | Praomyini |
| Genus: | Chingawaemys Nicolaset al., 2021 |
| Species: | C. rarus |
| Binomial name | |
| Chingawaemys rarus Lavrenchenko, Mikula, & Bryja, 2021 | |
TheChingawa forest rat (Chingawaemys rarus) is a species ofrodentendemic toEthiopia. It is the only member of themonotypic genusChingawaemys. It was only described in 2021, when it was discovered during a broad phylogenetic analysis of the tribePraomyini.[1][2]
It is thought to have diverged from its closest relatives over 6 million years ago, during thePliocene. The species inhabits the last remnant oftropical rainforest present in Ethiopia, in an area calledChingawa near the border withSouth Sudan. It is only known from one specimen collected 15 years prior to description, and researchers have been unable to regain access the type locality of the specimen. The genus is at major risk of extinction due to massdeforestation in the area forcoffee production.[3]
