Bandicota indica

A large rodent with a tail that is equal to or slightly shorter than the body length. The hind legs are 40-60mm long. The fur on the back is very rough, especially on the back of the body, with thick and long black guard hairs, dark brown-black, slightly lighter on the sides, and black-gray at the base of the ventral hair, with light brown-gray to grayish white hair tips. The tail is thick and covered with short black-gray hairs, and the overall color is grayish black, one color from top to bottom. The back of the front and back legs are grayish black, the ventral side is white, and the claws are grayish white. The skull is thick and the supraorbital ridge is obvious. The zygomatic arch is strong and the auditory bulla is large. The molar row is wide, and the molars have no obvious cusps and medial and lateral tooth processes, and the chewing surface is plate-like.

In China, it is distributed in southern Sichuan, Yunnan, Guangxi, Fujian and Taiwan. Abroad, it is distributed in South Asia, Southeast Asia, Java Island in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, etc.

The sclerodont prefers to live in humid, water-close and high places, such as seawalls, riverbanks, irrigation canals, enclosures, sugarcane fields, sweet potato fields, high earth piles, small earth mounds, bamboo forests, foothills, thatched grass, ponds, and other places with convenient feeding, abundant water sources, high terrain, good concealment conditions, as well as ridges, gaps in field foundations, canal edges, and under grass hedges.

The laminae belongs to the Murinae subfamily and is one of the largest species in the Murinae subfamily. The type origin is India. There are 3 species in this genus worldwide, and 1 species is distributed in China. The taxonomic status of this species is stable, and there are different opinions on which genus it belongs to. It was once included in the genus <Gunomys>. The results of chromosome research show that it belongs to the genus <Bandicata>. However, there are many subspecies and synonyms, up to 16, and some places are introduced species, which are closely related to humans. Therefore, the size, fur color, etc. are no longer the appearance of the original ecosystem, which brings difficulties to the definition of subspecies. This species inhabits farmland, cities and villages. There are more in wet rice fields and river banks. According to records (Smith & Xie, 2009), this species likes to eat mollusks, crabs, and fish. It also eats grains, tubers, etc.

The plank-toothed rat hides during the day and comes out at night. It leaves its cave mostly at dusk and dawn, and the former is the most active. It is rarely seen in the field during the day. It is only active occasionally during the day in sparsely populated areas or places with good hiding conditions or when it is cloudy. The plank-toothed rat is highly vigilant. Once it encounters an enemy, it will immediately escape. If it is too late, it will lift up its front body, with its back hair standing upright, its teeth and claws exposed, and pounce on the "enemy", making a squeaking sound. When they are ready to leave the cave, they usually stay at the cave entrance for a while to listen to the movement outside. If they find the enemy, they will quickly return to the cave and use their hind legs to quickly push the soil to block the cave entrance. In order to adapt to the changes in environmental conditions, the plate-toothed rat has a temporary migration phenomenon. Its range of activities is larger than that of the yellow-haired rat, and its swimming ability is also strong. It can often swim across a river more than 100 meters wide.

The plate-toothed rat digs caves to live in. The caves are mostly located in high places. The structure is very complex. The cave entrances are larger than those of the brown rat and the yellow-haired rat. There are 3-8 cave entrances. The deepest tunnel is about 1m from the ground, and generally 80cm from the ground. There are two types of cave entrances: the front cave entrance and the back cave entrance. There is only one front cave entrance with a circular diameter of about 10cm, located at the lowest point of the entire cave. The cave entrance is piled with granular soil pushed out when digging the cave, forming a large conical mound; there are more back cave entrances, generally more than 3, and the location is higher. There is no large conical mound at the cave entrance. The cave is complex and can reach several meters in length. The nest is located on the side of the cave leading to the back cave entrance. The nest is nearly circular, with a diameter of about 220mm, and is padded with straw, sugarcane leaves, etc. Some caves are built in the pile of sugarcane leaves and the edge of the pond. The caves are divided into two types: habitat caves and temporary caves. The former is a long-term residence for the plate-toothed rats, with a complex structure and more than 7-8 cave entrances; the latter is simple, used for temporary shelter, with only 1-3 cave entrances.

The main food of the scutellaria is plant-based, and they particularly like sugar cane, sweet potatoes, and plant seeds with high nutritional value. As for which crop is the main food, it is related to the type of crops in the area, and there are seasonal differences. For example, in places where there are more sweet potatoes, they feed on sweet potatoes; in sugar cane producing areas, they mainly feed on sugar cane; in rice areas, they steal pregnant ears and grains. If there are no crops to eat in the fields, they eat grass seeds, grass roots, tender stems and small berries. In addition, they also eat very small amounts of animal food, such as small fish, shrimps, snails, etc. Sometimes they kill each other and bite the dead rats. The scutellaria has a large appetite. Under breeding conditions, an adult rat with an average weight of 445g takes up 114g of food per day. Wild plants in the field account for a large proportion of the food of the hamster, which is related to the weeds in the habitat of the hamster.

The hamster has strong reproductive capacity and reproduces all year round, generally producing 4-6 litters per year. Female mice can often mate and conceive during lactation, with 3-7 litters per litter, up to 9. Generally, the number of litters is small in spring and summer, and the survival rate of young mice is low; the number of litters is large in autumn, and the survival rate of young mice is also high. The gestation period is 4 weeks. The young rats can forage freely 23-26 days after birth and damage crops. The young rats reach sexual maturity after 3-4 months and can mate and reproduce.

In Shenzhen, China, the population of the sclerodont rat has decreased sharply due to the sharp reduction in its habitat. In 1984, 59 sclerodont rats were captured, accounting for 11.78%. In 2000, 16 sclerodont rats were captured in Guangming Farm in Bao'an District, accounting for 2.56%. In 2005, Zhang Xiaolan's survey found 1 sclerodont rat in Bao'an District.

Listed in the 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species ver 3.1 - Least Concern (LC).