565.

Cook’s

Mouse

Mus cookii

French: Souris de Cook / German: Cook-Maus / Spanish: Raton de Cook

Other common names: Ryley's Spiny Mouse

Taxonomy. Mus cookii Ryley, 1914,

Gokteik, Shan States, northern Burma (= Myanmar).

Within subgenus Mus forms a clade with M. cervicolor and M. caroli, based on the molecular data of T. Shimada and colleagues. Monotypic.

Distribution. Nepal, NE India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, S China (Yunnan), Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 77-96 mm,

tail 83-91 mm, ear 15 mm, hindfoot 19-5 mm; weight 16-5-23 g. Cook’s Mouse is similar to the Ryukyu Mouse ( M. caroli), but it islarger and does not have a bicolored tail. Dorsal pelage is dark gray brown and stiff; ventral pelage is grayish white. Tail is shorter (90-100%) than head-body length and unicolored. Females bear three pairs of mammae.

Habitat. Upland rice fields and other man-modified landscapes, and also pine forests or grassland in mountains.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. Cook’s Mice are probably terrestrial and nocturnal.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

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

Bibliography. Francis (2008), Lekagul & McNeely (1977), Shimada et al. (2010), Smith & Yan Xie (2008)