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Sub-Saharan Pygmy Mouse

Mus minutoides

French: Souris naine / German: Eigentliche Afrika-Zwergmaus / Spanish: Raton pigmeo de Sahel Other common names: Pygmy Mouse, South African Pygmy Mouse, Tiny Pygmy Mouse

Taxonomy. Mus minutoides A. Smith, 1834, Cape Town, southern Western Cape Province, South Africa.

This species or species-complex is distinguished by a chromosomal Robertsonian translocation between the X chromosome and the autosome pair 1. On molecular grounds, M. minutoides (sensu lato) contains as many as eleven distinct genetic lineages from West, Central, Southern, and Eastern Africa, as shown in 2014 by J. M. and J. Bryja and their respective colleagues. Owing to the taxonomic complexity of this group and the low genetic distances between lineages, no subspecies are currently recognized. Although some earlier treatments considered M. minutoides to be absent from the drier parts of southern Africa, their occurrence has been demonstrated on molecular or chromosomal grounds in Botswana and northern Namibia . The final distribution and species limits of this problematic species awaits a full taxonomic revision employing both morphological and molecular characters, but maps of the eleven proposed genetic lineages within M. minutoides are provided by Bryja and others in 2014. Taxonomy requires further investigation.

Distribution. Very widespread across sub-Saharan Africa from W, C & E to S Africa.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 40-72 mm, tail 27-57 mm, ear 6-12 mm, hindfoot 9-16 mm; weight 3-12 g. Very small mouse with short tail. The fur is soft and shiny, brownish buff to brownish orange above, buffy orange on flanks and pure white below, including the chin. Tail is short (c.75% of head-body length), brownish above and paler below. Head with pointed nose and long vibrissae. Ears moderately large, rounded and brownish, without postauricular white spots. Forefeet and hindfeet short and white, with well-developed digits and claws (fourth and fifth on forefeet and hindfeet respectively),second to fourth digits elongated. Females have five pairs of nipples. Chromosomal complement is 2n = 18-36, FN = 34.

Habitat. M. minutoides tolerates a very wide range of habitats from montane forest and grassland to rocky habitats and a wide range of arid and mesic savanna types, aswell as occurring in gardens and cultivated fields, and near settlements.

Food and Feeding. Diet comprised mostly of insects and seeds in KwaZulu-Natal, but includes foliage in Swaziland and the Karoo of south-western South Africa.

Breeding. In South Africa, breeding continues throughout the year but with a peak in the wet season. Gestation in South Africa 18-19 days, litter size 1-7. In populations from southern Nigeria previously referred to M. musculoides, but which seem more likely to be M. minutoides, reproduction is seasonal, with young being born in late dry season or early wet season. Gestation in S Nigeria 22-24 days, litter size 1-6.

Activity patterns. Sub-Saharan Pygmy 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. Anadu (1976), Britton-Davidian et al. (2012), Bryja, Mikula, Sumbera et al. (2014), Happold (2013a), Kerley (1992a, 1992b), Lamb et al. (2014), McDonough et al. (2013), Meester et al. (1986), Monadjem (1997b), Monadjem et al. (2015), Rowe-Rowe (1986), Veyrunes et al. (2004), Willan & Meester (1978).