Meer-rat

'That is the name for those lizard-eating rats in the Jen'rahb, in Ehrlitan.' Corabb nodded 'The long bodied ones with the scaly heads.' Leoman : 'Almost impossible to hunt down. They can slip through cracks a snake would have trouble with. Hinged skulls.'
'Bones like green twigs yes...... when startled they dive for the first hole in sight, no matter how small'.

BH, UK Tpb, p.32