471.

Heuglin’s Striped Grass Mouse

Lemniscomys zebra

French: Rat-rayé de Heuglin / German: Heuglin-Streifengrasmaus / Spanish: Raton de hierba listado de Heuglin

Other common names: Heuglin's Lemniscomys, Zebra Grass Mouse, Zebra Lemniscomys

Taxonomy. Mus zebra Heuglin, 1864,

Bahr el Ghazal, South Sudan.

Lemniscomys zebra was previously included within L. barbarus, but M. D. Carleton and E. Van der Straeten in 1997 demonstrated that the two species can be distinguished morphometrically. Poorly defined L. hoogstraali may be conspecific with L. zebra . Monotypic.

Distribution. Widespread in arid Sahelo-Sudanian savannas from Senegal E to Eritrea, extending into much of E Africa S to S Tanzania.

Descriptive notes. Head—body 96-119 mm, tail 110-133 mm, ear 13-16 mm, hindfoot 22-27 mm; weight 24-60 g. Heuglin’s Striped Grass Mouse has coarse fur yellowish brown to brown above, contrasting with white below. Single black mid-dorsal stripe extends from neck to base oftail, and there are 67 unbroken yellowish or cream stripes on each flank. Ears are large, rounded, and covered with short rufous hairs. Tail is long (c.1 10% of head— body length), dark above, pale below, sparsely haired. Forefeet have three functional digits. Females have 2+2 = 4 pairs of nipples. Chromosomal complement has 2n = 54, FN = 58.

Habitat. Drier grasslands and woodland savannas with adequate cover of grass, herbs, or bushes.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. Heuglin’s Striped Grass Mice are terrestrial and crepuscular.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List.

Bibliography. Carleton & Van der Straeten (1997), Happold (2013a), Monadjem et al. (2015), Rosevear (1969).