Striped grass mouse

Not to be confused with Rhabdomys.

Striped grass mouse Temporal range: Late Pliocene to Recent
Barbary striped grass mouse (Lemniscomys barbarus)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Muridae
Tribe:	Arvicanthini
Genus:	Lemniscomys Trouessart, 1881
Type species
Mus barbarus
Species
11, see text

Lemniscomys, sometimes known as striped grass mice or zebra mice, is a genus of murine rodents from Africa. Most species are from Sub-Saharan Africa; L. barbarus is the only one found north of the Sahara. ^[1] They are generally found in grassy habitats, but where several species overlap in distribution there is a level of habitat differentiation between them. ^[1]

They are 18.5–29 cm (7.3–11.4 in) long, of which about half is tail, and weigh 18–70 g (0.63–2.47 oz). ^[1] The pelage pattern of the species fall into three main groups: The "true" zebra mice with distinct dark and pale stripes (L. barbarus, L. hoogstraali and L. zebra ), the spotted grass mice with more spotty/interrupted stripes ( L. bellieri , L. macculus , L. mittendorfi and L. striatus ), and the single-striped grass mice with only a single dark stripe along the back ( L. griselda , L. linulus , L. rosalia and L. roseveari ). ^{[2] [3]}

They are generally considered diurnal, but at least some species can be active during the night. ^[3] They feed on plants, but sometimes take insects. ^[1] There are up to 12 young per litter, but 4–5 is more common. ^[3] The life expectancy is very short, in the wild often only a year, but a captive L. striatus lived for almost 5 years. ^[3] A more typical captive life expectancy is 2–2½ years. ^[4]

While most are common and not threatened, L. mittendorfi is restricted to Mount Oku and considered Vulnerable by the IUCN. ^[5] L. hoogstraali and L. roseveari are both very poorly known, leading to their rating as Data Deficient. ^{[6] [7]} Some of the widespread species are regularly kept in captivity, especially L. barbarus, L. striatus and L. zebra. ^[4]

Systematics

The etymology of the genus name Lemniscomys derives from the two ancient greek words λημνίσκος (lēmnískos), meaning "stripe, ribbon", and μῦς (mûs), meaning "mouse, rat", ^{[8] [9]} and refers to the pelage pattern.

Lemniscomys currently includes 11 species. ^[10] Until 1997, L. zebra was generally treated as a subspecies of L. barbarus. ^[2] It is possible L. striatus and L. zebra, as presently defined, actually are species complexes. ^{[11] [12]}

• Lemniscomys barbarus (Linnaeus, 1766)— Barbary striped grass mouse
• Lemniscomys bellieri Van der Straeten, 1975— Bellier's striped grass mouse
• Lemniscomys griselda (Thomas, 1904)— Griselda's striped grass mouse
• Lemniscomys hoogstraali Dieterlen, 1991— Hoogstraal's striped grass mouse
• Lemniscomys linulus (Thomas, 1910)— Senegal one-striped grass mouse
• Lemniscomys macculus (Thomas and Wroughton, 1910)— Buffoon striped grass mouse
• Lemniscomys mittendorfi Eisentraut, 1968— Mittendorf's striped grass mouse
• Lemniscomys rosalia (Thomas, 1904)— single-striped grass mouse
• Lemniscomys roseveari Van der Straeten, 1980 — Rosevear's striped grass mouse
• Lemniscomys striatus (Linnaeus, 1758)— typical striped grass mouse
• Lemniscomys zebra (Heuglin, 1864)— Heuglin's striped grass mouse

References

1. Kingdon, J. (1997). The Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals. pp. 212-213. ISBN   0-12-408355-2
2. Carleton, M D., and Van der Straeten, E. (1997). Morphological differentiation among Subsaharan and north African populations of the Lemniscomys barbarus complex (Rodentia : Muridae). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 110(4): 640-680.
3. Novak, R. M., editor (1999). Walker's Mammals of the World. Vol. 2. 6th edition. pp. 1596-1597. ISBN   0-8018-5789-9
4. Tofts, Russel. Striped Mouse. Archived September 6, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
5. van der Straeten, E. (2008). "Lemniscomys mittendorfi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2008: e.T11486A3284110. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T11486A3284110.en . Retrieved 26 December 2017.
6. van der Straeten, E. (2008). "Lemniscomys hoogstraali". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2008. Retrieved 10 December 2011.{{cite iucn}}: old-form url (help)
7. van der Straeten, E. (2008). "Lemniscomys roseveari". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2008. Retrieved 10 December 2011.{{cite iucn}}: old-form url (help)
8. Bailly, Anatole (1981-01-01). Abrégé du dictionnaire grec français. Paris: Hachette. ISBN   2010035283. OCLC   461974285.
9. Bailly, Anatole. "Greek-french dictionary online". www.tabularium.be. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
10. Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M., eds. (2005). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN   978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC   62265494.
11. van der Straeten, E. (2008). "Lemniscomys striatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2008. Retrieved 10 December 2011.{{cite iucn}}: old-form url (help)
12. van der Straeten, E. (2008). "Lemniscomys zebra". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2008. Retrieved 10 December 2011.{{cite iucn}}: old-form url (help)

External links

• Lemniscomys entry in Animal Diversity Web
• Lemniscomys entry in "The Taxonomican (does not include the species Lemniscomys zebra)
• Lemniscomys zebra entry in "Zipcode Zoo" (with links to entries for other Lemniscomys species and subspecies)