The West African shaggy rat (Dasymys rufulus) is a species of rodent in the family Muridae.

It is found in Benin, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.

Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland and swamps.

The tail is about as long as the head-and-body length; it is ringed by small scales and clad with sparse short bristles.

It inhabits wetlands and swampy areas,[1] streams, riverbanks, lakesides, young oil-palm plantations and rice fields.