472.

Bellier’s Striped Grass Mouse

Lemniscomys bellieriFrench: Rat-rayé de Bellier / German: BellierStreifengrasmaus / Spanish: Ratén de hierba listado de Bellier Other common names: Bellier's Lemniscomys Taxonomy. Lemniscomys belliert Van der Straeten, 1975,

Ayeremou (= Lamto), Ivory Coast. Lemniscomys bellieri, previously included in L. striatus, was elevated to species rank on basis of its unbroken lower lateral stripes (broken into spots in L. striatus) combined with chromosomal and moleculargenetic differences. It is genetically close to (cytochrome-b divergence 3-3%) and shares chromosomal and morphological characters with L. macculus, and the two may be conspecific. Monotypic.

Distribution. W of the Dahomey Gap in W Africa, from Guinea and Sierra Leone to extreme S Burkina Faso and NW Ghana.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 91-127 mm,tail 94-134 mm, ear 13-19 mm, hindfoot 23-27 mm; weight 26-46 g. Bellier’s Striped Grass Mouse has fur buffy brown above contrasting with pure white below, with narrow dark mid-dorsal stripe, and eight pale buffy lateral stripes on each flank (some broken into spots). Tail is long (c.100% of head-body length), dark brown above and whitish below, sparsely haired and ringed with scales. Feet are buffy-colored, forefeet with threefunctional digits, first digit vestigial and fifth digit highly reduced (with nail instead of claw). Females have 2+2 = 4 pairs of nipples. Chromosomal complement has 2n = 56.

Habitat. Grasslands in moist savannas, avoiding forests and forest edges.

Food and Feeding. Bellier’s Striped Grass Mouse is mostly or exclusively herbivorous, feeding close to burrows.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. Bellier’s Striped Grass Mouseis terrestrial, and nocturnal and crepuscular, with activity peaks before sunrise, after sunset, and in middle of night.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

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

Bibliography. Bernard (1969), Chéneti & Sani (1989), Ducroz et al. (2001), Happold (2013a), Monadjem etal. (2015), Van der Straeten (1975), Van der Straeten & Verheyen (1978a).