African Alpine Ice Rat Trapping and Behavior Data, 2000-2002

831 individual capture records and 31 monthly population counts from a three-year field study of the African ice rat in Lesotho. The data includes body mass, head-body length, and reproductive status, collected by researchers from the University of the Witwatersrand. Five colonies were sampled monthly from 2000 to 2002 in the Sani Valley.

Use Cases

• Modeling population persistence based on annual colony persistence percentages.
• Analyzing seasonal body mass and size variation using the Mass_g and HeadBodyLength_mm columns.
• Studying reproductive phenology based on counts of reproductively active males and females.
• Comparing aboveground activity patterns before and after parturition from focal female data.

Strengths

• Data spans three consecutive years (2000-2002) with monthly sampling.
• Includes 831 individual capture records with morphometric measurements.
• Contains separate files for individual, colony-level, and reproductive data, suggesting structured organization.

Limitations

• The dataset is small at 37.1 KB, indicating limited scope.
• Row counts for some files are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic and temporal bias inherent to the single study location and period.

Provenance

Source

Neville Pillay and Sneha Joshi, University of the Witwatersrand, via figshare.

Collection Method

Monthly live-trapping and focal behavioural observations.

Time Range

2000 to 2002

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-06 10:27:19; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Sani Valley, Lesotho (29 33'S, 29 14'E, 2800 m elevation)