abstract:Pouched rats are a group of African rodents in the subfamily Cricetomyinae. They are members of the family Nesomyidae, which contains other African muroids such as climbing mice, Malagasy mice, and the white-tailed rat.
Researcherssaythe sniffing powers of the Africanpouchedratcan help detect TBinsputumsamplesmore efficientlyand at a lowercostthanlab technicians usingmicroscopes.
But some rarer (to these parts) breeds have been spotted in New York City, such as this specimen reported to be a Gambian pouchedrat, which can grow up to three feet in length.
