Acomys russatus russatus (Wagner, 1840)

Amr, Zuhair S., Abu, Mohammad A., Qumsiyeh, Mazin & Eid, Ehab, 2018, Systematics, distribution and ecological analysis of rodents in Jordan, Zootaxa 4397 (1), pp. 1-94 : 28-29

Acomys russatus russatus (Wagner, 1840)

Common name: Golden spiny mouse

Diagnosis: Dorsal area covered with golden-orange spines. Spiny hair extends to the back of the head and the flanks ( Figure 28 ). Line of demarcation indistinct on flanks. White patch behind ear. Palms and soles naked. Ventral side of feet, palms and tail black, tail shorter than body length. Ears smaller than in A. dimidiatus . Skull with broad braincase. Median keel on palate absent.

Localities: Previous records. Ghawr es Safi (Atallah, 1978); near ‘ Aqaba ( Aharoni, 1932). New records: Petra, Raḩmah, Reishah, Wādī Fidān, Wādī Ramm (Abu Baker & Amr, 2004), Wādī Zarqā Ma'in, Wādī Al-Mujib ( Figure 29 ).

Habitat: This species inhabits the xeric, rocky areas along Wādī Al-Mujib, the mountains of Wādī ‘Araba and Wādī Ramm. The golden spiny mouse lives along with A. dimidiatus , as both species prefer rocky terrain (Atallah, 1978). It feeds on several halophytic plants such as Anabasis articulata , Atriplex halimus and Hammada scorpia (Shkolink & Borut, 1969).

Biology: The golden spiny mouse is nocturnal in areas where A. dimidiatus is absent, while it is active in the morning hours and late afternoon in habitats shared with A. dimidiatus (Shkolink, 1966) . One specimen was kept in capativity and lived for about 8 years.

Remarks: Bates (1994) considered the species A. lewisi as a synonym for A. russatus . A. lewisi is darker in color and apparently is confined to the black lava deserts of eastern Jordan (Atallah, 1978; Searight, 1987).The karyotype for specimens collected from Wādī Ramm yielded a diploid chromosome number of 66 and a fundamental number of 92. The autosomal set consists of 12 biarmed pairs (subtelocentric) and 20 pairs of acrocentric chromosomes. The X chromosome is subtelocentric, and the Y chromosome is acrocentric (Sözen et al., 2008).

Figures

FIGURE 29. Distribution of the golden spiny mouse, Acomys russatus russatus.

FIGURE28. The golden spiny mouse, Acomys russatus russatus, from Wādī Ramm (photo by MohammadAbu Baker).