Conch mouse

Conch mouse
Systematics
Superfamily : Mice-like (Muroidea) Family : Long-tailed mice (Muridae) Subfamily : Old World Mice (Murinae) Tribe : Murini Genre : Mice ( Mus ) Type : Conch mouse
Scientific name
Mus triton
Thomas , 1909

The Triton mouse , also African gray-bellied harvest mouse ( Mus triton ) is a small species of the long-tailed mouse (Muridae) that belongs to the Old World mice (Murinae ).

Appearance

The Triton mouse reaches a head-trunk length of up to 63 mm, the tail measures an additional 50 mm with a total weight of 8 to 12 grams . The belly side of the conch mouse is monochrome gray, the upper side is irregularly drawn in various dark brown tones. The tail is dark brown at the base, then lighter, sometimes irregularly white. The feet of the rear extremities have a much lighter brown color than those of the front extremities and also partially show white areas.

On the gray underside of the body, the conch mouse can be distinguished from closely related species with which it shares its habitat.

distribution and habitat

The conch mouse occurs in large parts of central, east and partly also south Africa . Its distribution area extends over Malawi , Tanzania , Mozambique , the Democratic Republic of the Congo , Zambia , Burundi , Angola and Uganda and is one of the largest among the African harvest mice.

It prefers humid habitats from grasslands to swamps . In doing so, it also advances into mountainous regions. In these areas, specimens have also been found in forests, while otherwise forest areas tend to be avoided.

Behavior and reproduction

The conch mouse is preferably nocturnal and feeds omnivorously on plant material and insects , with animal food predominating.

The conch mice observed in Malawi mate between April and July . The females give birth to a maximum of 6 young animals. The birth weight is approx. 1.3 grams.

Danger

The conch mouse is classified by the IUCN as not endangered ("Least Concern").

swell

• Gus Mills, Lex Hes: Mammals of Southern Africa. An illustrated encyclopedia. Könemann, Cologne 1999, ISBN 3-8290-3610-8 .
• Guy G. Musser , Michael D. Carleton : Superfamily Muroidea. In: Don E. Wilson , DeeAnn M. Reeder (Eds.): Mammal Species of the World. A taxonomic and geographic Reference. Volume 2. 3rd edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 , pp. 894-1531.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Mus triton in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2010. Posted by: F. Dieterlen, B. Agwanda, 2008. Accessed May 11, 2011th