The African white-tailed rat is a medium-sized rodent with a long white tail. It lives in the grassy areas of South Africa and leads a nocturnal lifestyle.
The white-tailed rat differs from other rodents by its completely white tail and special tooth structure. It is important for nature as a spreader of plant seeds and as prey for snakes, owls, and other predators.
Forages for food on the ground surface at night using paws and teeth.
meadows, prairies, forb glades on land
Whiskers count
Worker
Tail size
birth time
breeding
Dogs, dolphins, lynx hang out for 9-25 years and party on their birthday three times a year
m
Map
will celebrate their {n} birthday
g
t
When your next jubilee falls in {name} life years
Human
hot Africa south of the desert, many savannas and forests
days
Warm summer
How old you would be if you lived as {name}
Theoretical maximum lifespan estimated from the Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) mathematical model. This value reflects a biological potential derived from metabolic parameters, not from direct observation — real recorded lifespans are often significantly shorter.
adult
Maturity
plants
insects
About health
milk
When your next birthday would fall if you lived as {name}
Repro interval
results
Eyes count
summer warm, winter not very cold
Colors
Sex
Upcoming jubilees
Gremllins
mo
Uses an excavated underground tunnel or chamber for refuge or nesting.
rains are very rare, almost a desert
little precipitation in winter, more in summer
alpine meadows and arctic tundra on land
Trophic type
Filters
seeds of cereals and meadow grasses
Warm winter with almost no precipitation
Tail count
leaves
Upcoming birthdays
eggs, roe or offspring develop in a nest built on the ground or close to it
Truly long lives: 40-100 years. Bowhead whales, albatrosses, giant tortoises recall their birthday at most once a year
Lifespan
high in the mountains, cold, lots of grass and shrubs
in a burrow
Desert and dry shrubs
rains almost always, very humid
young are born live on land, not hatched from eggs or roe
Age (juvenile)
Age (from birth to death)
Age (embryo)
Wanderers
Food items are collected from exposed outer surfaces of substrates.
Jubilee = every 10th birthday
dry, cold winter, lots of grass, few trees
Earliest developmental stage inside an egg or womb.
Business sausages
roots
Lifespan average
in a terrestrial nest
leaves
Whiskers size
Montane grasslands
live birth
What do they look like?
Maturity
emergence (insects)
end of lifespan
How do they live?
fertilization / egg laying
How do they behave?
birth / hatching
metamorphosis / end of larval stage
end of acceleration
Share
Find a pet...
Mature, fully developed individual capable of reproduction.
nest hidden in an underground burrow
hot, uneven rains, lots of grass and trees
65 to 130 grams, 25 – 60 centimeters
Pets
Feeding occurs primarily on land or in vegetation.
{name} jubilee
paw
Eyes size
cm
Old-timers
Find an animal or breed...
turns
Rascals
terrestrial grassland and steppe
terrestrial herbaceous
Tail color
drink mother's milk in childhood
hot Africa south of the desert, many savannas and forests
Litter size
Tropical savanna
Map data sources: Ecosystem classification — IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (Keith et al., 2022), indicative distribution maps Keith et al. (2020), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3546513; Large Marine Ecosystems — NOAA LME Program; Bathymetry — GEBCO Bathymetric Compilation Group (2026), GEBCO_2026 Grid, https://doi.org/10.5285/4f68d5c7-45eb-f999-e063-7086abc036fa; Climate data — Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information; Species occurrence data — GBIF.org, Derived dataset "all animals", https://zveriki.com/dataset/dataset.tsv; Terrestrial ecoregions — RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017 (Dinerstein et al., 2017), CC BY 4.0
How to care for them?
Living from 25 to 40 years. Orangutans, bald eagles, African elephants celebrate their birthday twice a year
°C
Not specified
alpine and arctic tundra
Actively searching habitats to locate food items.
Where are they found?
nest hidden in an underground burrow, only the mother provides parental care for the offspring
steppe
Describes food handling or digging performed with the forelimbs.
Whiskers color
Low precipitation in winter
Legendary longevity: over 100 years. Galapagos tortoises, Greenland sharks, ocean quahogs celebrate with family once every 4 years
Offspring
Elders
Bro
winter dry and warm
Taxons
if born as {name}
omnivore
age
birth date
rest
Fur color
Close
was
Career from 7 to 15 months. Dwarf hamsters, voles, field crickets celebrate their birthday twice a month
nocturnal
The basics
herbivory, feed only on plant food
hibernation
My weight?
Non-stop carnival: they only live a few days. Mayflies, rotifers, midges celebrate their birthday more than twice a day
surface
primary food sources
teeth
burrow
after transformation until death
Potential Habitat
lots of grass, few trees, rains are rare
d
In husbandry
On the go from 1.3 to 3.5 years. Forest mice, anoles, rainbow fish party on their birthday once a month
Mass
young shoots and leaves of plants
Mosquitoes, fruit flies, small crustaceans hustle for up to 7 months and throw a birthday party every week
terrestrial
Gestation
land
{name} birthday
grass
No results found
Eyes color
On the map
Pleasant summer
grass seeds
all life stages
Female ♀
Cold and almost dry
world of Afrotropics
Map data sources: Ecosystem classification — IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (Keith et al., 2022), indicative distribution maps Keith et al. (2020), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3546513; Large Marine Ecosystems — NOAA LME Program; Bathymetry — GEBCO Bathymetric Compilation Group (2026), GEBCO_2026 Grid, https://doi.org/10.5285/4f68d5c7-45eb-f999-e063-7086abc036fa; Climate data — Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information; Species occurrence data — GBIF.org, Derived dataset "all animals", https://zveriki.com/dataset/dataset.tsv; Terrestrial ecoregions — RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017 (Dinerstein et al., 2017), CC BY 4.0
Potential habitat modelled from GBIF occurrence data. Map © Zveriki.com, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
birth year
lots of grass, few trees, rains occur
Shelter used specifically for reproduction or nesting.
Maturity
Skin color
caring mother
terrestrial habitat, land surface outside water
sq mm
yr
comfortable summer, +20…+25 °C
protection from sun
How similar?
Male ♂
until the celebration
baby / chick
age as {name}
How do they breed?
On the go from 3.5 to 6 years. Hedgehogs, crows, lizards treat themselves to birthday snacks 6 times a year
What if eaten?
Very dry
Neither
Young offspring still dependent on parental care.
What do they eat?
dry and cold almost all year round
Where do they live?
Hard dental structures used to bite, tear, or scrape food.
world of Afrotropics
Duration
grass seeds
live insects
This is me
Foraging activity occurs primarily during nighttime hours.
Steppe
Always very wet
Gamers
How are they built?
Temperate steppe
mm
Theoretical lifespan
ml
Stars
Link copied
My age?
wk
My size?
terrestrial
Asexual
swap
roots and plant tubers
Rabbits, falcons, red-eared turtles hang out for 6-9 years and party on their birthday four times a year
Where do they take shelter?
Denotes a grassland or steppe habitat preference.
inhabit and develop on land, outside water bodies
celebrated their {n} birthday
open grassy spaces — steppes, savannas, prairies
When you would have been born if you lived as {name}
Cold steppe
Daddies
Forages for food on the ground surface at night using paws and teeth.
Lifespan maximum
foraging
Hermaphrodite ⚥
embryo
Carrot
Length
kg
very hot and dry, rare rains, cacti live
Observations
◉{N} more on tap