Awash multimammate mouse

Awash multimammate mouse
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1) [1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Muridae
Genus:	Mastomys
Species:	M. awashensis
Binomial name
Mastomys awashensis Lavrenchenko, Likhnova & Baskevich, 1998

The Awash multimammate mouse or Awash mastomys (Mastomys awashensis) is a species of rodent in the family Muridae found only in Ethiopia. Phylogentically the Awash multimammate mouse is the sister taxon of the Natal multimammate mouse (M. natalensis), a species found almost everywhere in Africa south of the Sahara and considered a serious agricultural pest throughout its range. ^[2]

Habitat

Its natural habitats are dry savanna and arable land. ^[3] It is threatened by habitat loss. It is also considered as a pest for grain crops. ^[4]

Ecology

The species' ecology has been studied in detail in the croplands of the Degua Tembien district in Tigray, ^[2] where it commonly occurs in crop fields, domestic and peri-domestic habitats in wider altitudinal range (1500 m up to 2700 m). Being a nocturnal and burrowing species, it prefers crop fields with vertisols. Likewise, the multimammate mouse possibly contributes to a significant portion to the rodent diet of night-active raptors such as Barn owl.

References

1. Kennerley, R.; Lavrenchenko, L. (2016). "Mastomys awashensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016 e.T45060A22425623. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T45060A22425623.en . Retrieved 17 November 2021.
2. Meheretu Yonas; Leirs, H (2019). Raptor perch sites for biological control of agricultural pest rodents. In: Nyssen J., Jacob, M., Frankl, A. (Eds.). Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains - The Dogu'a Tembien District. SpringerNature. ISBN   978-3-030-04954-6.
3. Meheretu Yonas; Kiros Welegerima; Sluydts, V; Bauer, H; Kindeya Gebrehiwot; Deckers, J; Makundi, R; Leirs, H (2015). "Reproduction and survival of rodents in crop fields: the effects of rainfall, crop stage and stone-bund density". Wildlife Research. 42 (2): 158–164. Bibcode:2015WildR..42..158M. doi:10.1071/WR14121.
4. Meheretu Yonas; Kiros Welegerima; Deckers, S; Raes, D; Makundi, R; Leirs, H (2010). "Farmers' perspectives of rodent damage and management from the highlands of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia". Crop Protection. 29 (6): 532–539. Bibcode:2010CrPro..29..532Y. doi:10.1016/j.cropro.2009.12.006.

• Musser, G. G.; Carleton, M. D. (2005). "Superfamily Muroidea". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 1361–1362. ISBN   978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC   62265494.