African grass rat Savanna belt, namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia. Populations also occur in Algeria, Egypt, and Yemen. Despite its wide distribution and commonness, little is known about the biology and actual occurrence of the species. It reproduces mainly between June and November. The females give birth to 5-6 small cubs at least 3-4 times a year. Life expectancy in the wild is 2.5–3 years. Its natural habitats are dry savanna, moist savanna, subtropical
Benin north to the Atlantic Ocean in the south is about . Although the coastline measures , the country measures about at its widest point. Benin shows little variation in elevation and can be divided into four areas from the south to the north, starting with the low-lying, sandy, coastal plain (highest elevation ) which is, at most, wide. It is marshy and dotted with lakes and lagoons communicating with the ocean. Behind the coast lies the Guinean forest-savanna mosaic-covered plateaus of southern Benin (altitude between ), which are split by valleys running north to south along the Couffo, Zou, and