Mus pahari Thomas 1916

569.

Indochinese Shrew-like Mouse

Mus pahari

French: Souris du Sikkim / German: Indochina-Maus / Spanish: Raton musarana de Indochina

Other common names: Gairdner’s Shrewmouse

Taxonomy. Mus pahari Thomas, 1916,

“Batasia, Tonglu [Sikkim, India]. Alt 6,000’ [= 1828 m].”

Placed in subgenus Coelomys. In 2012, H. Suzuki and K. P. Aplin described wide cryptic diversity among specimens from Laos, possibly accounting for at least two new species: one clade was from S China, Laos, and Thailand; while another included the jacksoniae specimen from Laos,;. as well as other specimens from Vietnam.

However, no study has yet performed a molecular analysis of a specimen from the type locality in India. Race jacksoniae was previously recognized. Monotypic.

Distribution. NE India, Bhutan, Myanmar, S China, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and SW Cambodia.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 75-105 mm, tail 70-100 mm, ear 14 mm, hindfoot 19-22 mm; weight 20-28 g. A large shrew-like mouse with a relatively long nose and small eyes. Fur with spines. Dorsal pelage has darkgray to brown gray hairs, underparts white. Tail is equal to orslightly smaller (90-100%) than head-body length. On the skull, the anterior palatal foramen is short. Chromosomal complement is 2n = 48, FN = 48.

Habitat. Grassland within montane forest, and probably secondary forest, up to 2000 m above sea level.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. A female was reported with six softfurred newborn young. Spines appear at c.7-8 weeks.

Activity patterns. Indochinese Shrew-like Mice are mostly nocturnal.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. The Indochinese Shrew-like Mouse does not dig burrows in captivity. It uses crevices in the soil and makes globular nests of dried grass or in bamboo tubes.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List.

Bibliography. Agrawal (2000), Corbet & Hill (1992), Francis (2008), Lekagul & McNeely (1977), Suzuki & Aplin (2012).