I’ve mentioned on occasion how vast, sprawling and complex the mouse family (Muridae) is. You’ll know this already if you know anything about mammals, or rodents specifically. As usual with grand radiations of this sort, I don’t feel as if I’ve done any more than scratch the surface when it comes to discussing the diversity of this group. But, it’s hard, given other commitments and the time it takes to get some of this stuff together (especially when you like using images). Anyway… let’s look at some obscure mice.
The Luzon striped mice, shreats, shrew rats/shrew-rats or earth rats (Chrotomys) are a small group of Philippine endemics. They have pointed snouts, a short tail and a somewhat shrew-like demeanour, and indeed are semi-fossorial, insectivorous, shrew-mimicking rodents. They’re mid-sized, head and body length being 15-17 cm. It’s thought that they took to a shrew-like role in view of the local absence of shrews and that they’re part of the ‘Old Endemic’ group of Philippine murids (Musser et al. 1985, Musser & Heaney 1992) – one of the first wave of murid migrants to arrive on the islands. Within this group, Chrotomys is unique in possessing stripes. I’ve been meaning for years to do a big review article on Philippine murids as a whole – such a fascinating bunch.
The stocky proportions, strong limbs, long and heavily built, wide, spatulate manual claws and short tails of the Chrotomys species are typical of mice that dig and use burrows. The fur is typically dense and soft. The rostrum is rather slender and pointed when seen from above, the teeth are slender and the upper incisors are strongly prognathous. They’re primarily associated with montane and mossy forests (C. mindorensis is the only lowland species), are apparently diurnal, and are partly dependent on earthworms. That last factor may explain why at least some species (C. mindorensis and C. whiteheadi) appear to be quite tolerant of habitat disturbance, since worms may be especially abundant in places that have been disturbed (Rickart et al. 2005). However, it’s suspected that the others are at risk from habitat loss and degradation.
Five Chrotomys species are presently recognised, two of which were named since 1990: the Isarog striped shreat C. gonzales, named in 1991, and the Sibuyan striped shrew rat C. sibuyanensis, named in 2005. The C. sibuyanensis holotype was actually collected in 1992, another reminder that ‘discovery date’ and ‘description date’ are often far from being the same thing.
The Silver earth rat C. silaceus has been regarded by some authors as distinct enough to warrant its own genus – Celaenomys – since it’s smaller than the others, usually (but not always) lacks stripes, has shorter, denser, greyer fur, and has a narrower skull and more reduced molar count. Recent molecular and morphological work have shown that it’s not substantially different from the others and hence they are best all regarded as part of the same genus (Rickart et al. 2005).
And that’ll do for a quick summary. I’ll be covering more obscure murids in future. For previous Tet Zoo articles on murids and other rodents, see…
- Osgood, Fuertes, and mice that swim and mice that wade
- Australia, land of placentals (part I)
- Australia, land of placentals (part II)
- The mystery mammal of Kayan Mentarang
- Of vole plagues and hip glands
- North America: land of obscure, freaky voles
- A brief history of muskrats
- Cricetomyines: the African pouched rats and mice
- Meet the Scaly-Tail Gliders
- African Climbing Mice and the Congo Link Rat
- African Mole Rats: So Much More Than Just the Naked Mole Rat
Refs - -
Musser, G. G., Heaney, L. R. & Rabor, D. S. 1985. Philippine rats: a new species of Crateromys from Dinagat Island. American Museum Novitates 2821, 1-25.
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