African rats and mice adversely affect the lives of millions of Africans. These small mammals not only destroy crops, but also damage stored foods and several species are known reservoirs and vectors for several human diseases. (more)

The extensive African Rodentia specimen and tissue collections of the Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA), the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) and the University of Antwerp (UA) provide taxonomical, ecological, geographical and genetic information, as well as measurements and data on parasitic and viral infections. The scientific importance of these collections is that – although numerous African rats and mice have been described over the last 150 years – many species descriptions are based on very few specimens. The aim of this project is to make our collections accessible to a wider public. While working on the different databases we decided to include not only the Muridae, but the other African rodent families as well.

The website provides an advanced search function, which allows you to access all the information we have about every specimen, family, genus and species in our database. For most of the species, detailed information such as photos, original species descriptions and literature is available as well. All the specimen information can be exported, but you'll have to register to access this functionality. This collection is also provided to GBIF. Although the project has completed, the database is still updated regulary.