Mus caroli, Bonhote, 1902
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publication ID |
https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.6887260 |
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DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6836085 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/1E30E275-34E7-FF56-E493-296571D689E8 |
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treatment provided by |
Carolina |
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scientific name |
Mus caroli |
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Ryukyu Mouse
French: Souris de Rothschild / German: Reisfeldmaus / Spanish: Raton de Ryukyu
Other common names: Ricefield Mouse
Taxonomy. Mus caroli Bonhote, 1902 View in CoL ,
“Okinawa [Island], Liu-Kin [= Ryukyu] Islands,”
Japan.
Placed in subgenus Mus by J. T. Marshall
in 1977; according to a 2010 molecular phylogeny of T. Shimada andcolleagues, it belongs to a clade that also includes M. cooku and M. cervicolor . The species seems to present a high morphological variability acrossits range. Monotypic.
Distribution. S China (Yunnan, Guizhou,
Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, and Hainan), Taiwan, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, S Myanmar, and Thailand; also present in Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and adjacent Is, E Java and adjacent Madura I, and Japan (Okinawa I), but origin is uncertain. Introduced to Flores I, Indonesia. View Figure
Descriptive notes. Head—body 62-95mm,tail 65-95 mm, ear 12-14 mm, hindfoot 15-19 mm; weight 11-5-19-5 g. This medium-sized mouse has grayish-brown dorsal pelage, with stiff fur, and gray-white ventral pelage. Tail is about the same length as head-body length. On the skull, incisors project forwards (proodont) and nasal bone is short.
Habitat. Pine grass savanna or grass patches in deciduous forests of Thailand. The Ryukyu Mouse is common in rice fields and secondary forest.
Food and Feeding. Diet consists of plant matter and insects.
Breeding. In captivity, females may raise litters of 5-6 young in a round nest made of grass.
Activity patterns. Ryukyu Mice are terrestrial and primarily nocturnal. Some individuals are seen out of the burrows during the day.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. The Ryukyu Mouse digs burrows with two entrances leading to a chamber. Burrow entrances are opened at night and signaled by small mounds offreshly excavated soil.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List.
Bibliography. Lekagul & McNeely (1977), Marshall (1977a), Musser & Carleton (2005), Shimada et al. (2010), Smith & Yan Xie (2008).
No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.
