190.

Banahaw Forest Mouse

Apomys banahao

French: Apomys du Banahaw / German: Banahaw-Philippinenwaldmaus / Spanish: Raton de bosque de Banahaw

Other common names: Banahaw Apomys

Taxonomy. Apomys banahao Heaney et al., 2011,

“Philippines: Luzon Island: Quezon Province: Mt. Banahaw: Barangay Lalo, 1465 m; 14-06635°N, 121-50855°E..”

Apomys banahao was newly collected in 2004. It belongs to subgenus Megapomys and is most closely related to A. brownorum . It is sympatric at mid-elevations on Mount Banahaw with A. magnus of subgenus Megapomys, and across broader elevational range with A. microdon and A. musculus of subgenus Apomys . Monotypic.

Distribution. Currently known only from Mt Banahaw and adjacent Mt Banahaw de Lucban, Luzon, Philippines;it is likely to occur on adjacent Mt San Cristobal.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 125-154 mm,tail 111-133 mm, ear 22-24 mm, hindfoot 33-37 mm; weight 71-92 g. Species of Apomys are soft-furred, small to medium-sized murines with relatively unspecialized body form; they are distinguished from other Philippine murines by distinctive suite of features, including long, narrow hindfeet, thinly furred tail, unreduced eyes,relatively large and thinly furred ears, vibrissae on snout very elongate and, folded back, reach to shoulder or beyond, reduction to two mammae on each side, both inguinal, and simplified molar pattern with cusps united into transverse laminae. Members of subgenus Megapomys are larger, shorter-tailed species active primarily on ground; in most forest habitats across Luzon, they are the most abundant terrestrial mammal in any local community. The Banahaw Forest Mouse is one of the smaller species of Megapomys. Fur on upperparts, flanks and outer surfaces of all limbs is dense and moderately long, dark brown with pale rusty tints and diffuse black flecking, paler on flanks; body hairs dark gray basally, guard hairs black and narrowly projecting through fur; fur on underparts and on inside of limbs is dark gray at bases with pale ash-gray tips; upperside and lower parts with sharply defined boundary; ears are darkly pigmented. Dark fur of limbs extends onto upper surfaces of forefeet, but digits are unpigmented and covered with short white hairs; dark fur of hindlimbs stops at ankle, but patch of dark hairs is present on upper surface of each foot; hindfeet relatively elongate and narrow, undersurface with dark gray pigment for proximal two-thirds, surrounding posterior pads, most plantar pads small and well separated but hallucal pad long and narrow, digits relatively short. Tail is relatively short (86-103% of head-body length), dark above and white below for entire length, but sometimes with scattered pigmented scales and dark hairs. Cranium has moderately long and slender rostrum, and relatively small molars for the genus. Chromosomal complement has 2n = 48 and FN> 54, autosomes with two pairs small metacentric orsubmetacentric, remainder telocentric; X chromosome is large and submetacentric, Y is very small and telocentric.

Habitat. Evergreen tropical rainforest, including primary montane rainforest and ecotone with higher-elevation “mossy” forest, at elevations of 1465-1750 m. Banahaw Forest Mice have notbeen encountered in disturbed habitats.

Food and Feeding. [.. R Heaney and colleagues reported in 2016 that Banahaw Forest Mice “showed a slight preference for live earthworm bait rather than fried coconut” and “are probably omnivorous.” Breeding. R. Heaney and coworkers reported that “nine pregnant females carried from one to two embryos each (mean = 1:9).” Activity patterns. Heaney and coworkers reported that “nearly all were captured at night, and nearly all were on the ground surface (not in trees).” Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Not assessed on The IUCN Red List. The entire known geographic range of the Banahaw Forest Mouse falls within the Mts Banahaw—San Cristobal National Park.

Bibliography. Heaney, Balete & Rickart (2016), Heaney, Balete, Rickart, Alviola et al. (2011), Heaney, Balete, Rosell-Ambal et al. (2013), Justiniano et al. (2015).