Kahuzi climbing mouse
| Kahuzi climbing mouse | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Dendromus kahuziensis | ||||||||||||
| Dieterlen , 1969 |
The Kahuzi climbing mouse ( Dendromus kahuziensis ) is a little researched rodent belonging to the genus of African climbing mice ( Dendromus ). It is only known from two specimens, a male and a female, collected in 1967 and 1972 by Fritz Dieterlen and his colleagues at Kahuzi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo .
features
The male has a head-trunk length of 82 mm, a tail length of 132 mm, a hind foot length of 22 mm, an ear length of 15 mm, a skull length of 23.7 mm, a skull width of 10.8 mm and a weight of 12 g. The total length of the upper row of teeth from the first to the third molar is 3.5 mm. In the female, the head-trunk length measures 77 mm, the tail length 120 mm, the hind foot length 21 mm, the ear length 14 mm, the skull length 23.4 mm and the skull width 11 mm. The weight in the female is 10 g and the entire length of the upper row of teeth from the first to the third molar is 3.4 mm. The skull of the male is damaged, that of the female is complete. The ends of the hair on the top are medium brown. The fur underneath is gray-black throughout. A wide eel line runs from the head (at eye level) to the base of the tail , which is 8 mm wider than in the other Dendromus species.
The flank hairs are lighter with light brown tips. The chin, throat and chest are white. The rest of the underside to the end of the body is dark gray. The head is light brown on the cheeks and behind the eyes. Black circles run around the eyes and extend forward to the nasal region. The ears have sparse, short black and reddish hair. The hands have three long fingers. The thumb is rudimentary . The fifth finger is tiny. The hind feet have five toes. The first toe is short with no nails or claws. The fifth toe is long, opposable, and has a long claw. The long tail that 157 percent of the accounts head-body length is relatively longer than other Dendromus species. It has short, dark bristle hairs that are darker on the top and lighter on the underside. The top of the feet is hairy reddish-silver. In the area of the heel there is a clearly pronounced dark spot.
The skull shows a broad, rounded brain capsule, a narrow interorbital point, relatively large tympanic cavities and a zygomatic arch plate that is strongly curved upwards. The rostrum and the nasal bone are very long. The long cleft palate ends at the beginning of the molar row. The front edge of the zygomatic arch over the infraorbital foramen is fluted. The occipital opening shows an upward bulge at the upper edge.
The number of teats and the karyotype are unknown.
distribution and habitat
The Kahuzi climbing mouse inhabits the Afromontane Zone at an altitude of 1900 to 2100 m. It is only known from a mining forest on the south-south-west slopes of the Kahuzi, which is located around 20 km west of Lake Kiwu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The only known habitat is a deep gorge with a small stream covered by a thick mountain forest. The dominant plant is the bamboo species Arundinaria alpina . Occurring tree species are Polyscias fulva , Symphonia globulifera and Neobutonia macrocalyx . Ferns are represented by Cyathea manniana and Marattia fraxinea . The Kahuzi climbing mouse is the only Drendromus species that lives in montan forests.
Way of life
The texture of the front and rear feet and the long tail suggest that these mice are good climbers. They probably spend most of their time on the ground, like other dendromus species that live in grasslands. The two known specimens were caught in snap traps on the ground. Apparently these mice sometimes come down on the ground, possibly when foraging for food. The stomach contents of the female caught in 1972 contained similar, well-chewed plant material, which probably consisted of seeds and fruits. There was no green vegetation or animal remains.
status
The IUCN classifies the Kahuzi climbing mouse in the category " critically endangered " . The zoologist Duane A. Schlitter described the Kahuzi climbing mouse as rare in 1989. The distribution area of the Kahuzi climbing mouse is in the Kahnti-Biega National Park and probably covers less than 100 km². When searching in adjacent regions, this type could not be found. The main threats are illegal logging and fires.
literature
- Fritz Dieterlen: Dendromus kahuziensis (Dendromurinae; Cricetidae; Rodentia) - a new species from Central Africa. Journal of Mammals 34, 1969: 348-353.
- Fritz Dieterlen: Second find of Dendromus kahuziensis (Dendromurinae; Cricetidae; Rodentia) and other Dendromus catches in the Kivu highlands above 2000 m. Stuttgart Contributions to Natural History, Series A (Biology) 286, 1976: 1–5.
- Fritz Dieterlen: Kahuzi African Climbing Mouse. In: Jonathan Kingdon, Thomas M. Butynski, David CD Happold, Meredith Happold (Eds.): Mammals of Africa. Volume 3: Rodents, Hares and Rabbits. Bloomsbury, London et al. 2013, ISBN 978-1-4081-2254-9 , pp. 172-173.
- Ara Monadjem , Christiane Denys , Peter J. Taylor , Fenton PD Cotterill : Rodents of Sub-Saharan Africa: A biogeographic and taxonomic synthesis , De Gruyter, 2015. ISBN 3-11-030166-0
Web links
- Dendromus kahuziensis inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017.1. Posted by: F. Dieterlen, 2008. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
- EDGE Species: Mount Kahuzi Climbing Mouse (Dendromus kahuziensis)
Individual evidence
- ^ DA Schlitter: African rodents of special concern: a preliminary assessment. In: Rodents. A World Survey of Species of Conservation Concern (WZ Lidicker, ed.). Occasional Papers, IUCN Species Survival Commission 4, 1989: 33-39.