524.

Large-eared Field Mouse

Apodemus latronum

French: Mulot du Sichuan / German: Sichuan-Waldmaus / Spanish: Ratén de campo de orejas grandes

Other common names: Sichuan Field Mouse

Taxonomy. Apodemus speciosus latronum Thomas, 1911,

Tatsienlu, W Sechuan, China.

Sometimes considered a synonym of A. draco, A. latronum was included into the Apodemus group by G. G. Musser and colleagues in 1996. Liu Xiaoming and coworkers in 2004 found it distant from A. draco on molecular grounds, and in 2012 the Liu Qi team confirmed it as a member of the Apodemus group clade and found it basal to a subclade of that. It is sister taxon of a subclade that includes A. draco and A. semotus . The geographic variability was explored by Y. Kaneko in 2015. Monotypic.

Distribution. NE India, N Myanmar, and China (E Qinghai, E Tibet [= Xizang], Sichuan, and N Yunnan).

Descriptive notes. Head-body 92-107 mm, tail 100-120 mm, ear 18-21 mm, hindfoot 25-27 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. The Large-eared Field Mouse, a relatively large member of genus, is characterized by dark brown dorsal pelage, grayish-white ventral pelage, and tail (of about same length as body length) which is lighter below. It is similar to the South China Field Mouse ( A. draco) but larger, with longer ears and hindfeet. Females have three pairs of mammae. Karyotype 2n = 48.

Habitat. Alpine forests and adjacent meadowsat elevations of 2700-4000 m.

Food and Feeding. In north-west Yunnan, the Large-eared Field Mouse consumes seeds of various plants, including Pinus armandii ( Pinaceae), Dipsacus asper (Caprifoliaceae), and Aconitum chungdianensis ( Ranunculaceae). It is a seed-disperser.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. Large-eared Field Mice are nocturnal and terrestrial.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

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

Bibliography. Chen Zhiping et al. (1996), Kaneko (2010, 2012, 2015), Liu Qi et al. (2012), Liu Xiaoming et al. (2004), Musser et al. (1996), Smith & Yan Xie (2008), Wang Bo & Yang Xiaodong (2007).