Giant thicket rat

The Great Mouse bush ( Grammomys gigas ) is a poorly understood Mouse type of the genus Acacia mice ( Grammomys ). It is only known from a single specimen, which was collected at the end of 1910, Mount Kenya massif.

Features

The type specimen, an old male with worn molars, has a total length of 132 mm and a tail length of 201 mm. The ear length is 19 mm and the Hinterfußlänge 26.5 mm. The skull length is given as 35.5 mm and the width of the skull 16.9 mm. The entire length of the upper row of teeth of the first cutting tooth and a third molar of 5.5 mm. The back is olive-gray fur with a dark yellow - sand-colored blurring. The reddish tint of the fur is towards increasingly bright orange - red rump. The head, face sides, neck and shoulders are dark washed out yellow-brown. The flanks are tired of orange tinted brown and sharply delineated from the white underparts. The peritoneum is white with a pink - sand-colored tint and appears in its general coloring as almost white. The fronts of the front and hind feet are sand color. The long tail is covered with short hair. At the tail end of the long hair forming a slight tuft. The skull is very large and massive. The skull is larger than in the related species. The zygomatic bone is strong and heavy. The front palate hole ( foramen palatine ) is very long. The bulla is large and slightly oversized. The molars are particularly large. The tooth row is longer and wider than in the African bush mouse ( Grammomys ibeanus ).

Distribution, habitat and way of life

The holotype of the Great bush mouse was collected on 28 December 1910 at 2740 m altitude at Solai on Mount Kenya. In his first description of 1911 Guy Dollman reported by another copy of the westerly from the Mount Kenya region Kasituka, but be on the no further information. Little is known about habitat and behavior. The species is arboreal ( arboreal ) and inhabits moist, tropical mountain forests and bushland at high altitudes. Probably similar to the habitat requirements which the sympatric African bush mouse.

System

The Great bush mouse was described in 1911 by Guy Dollman as Thamnomys gigas. In the following years it was by numerous authors ( including Allen 1939, Ellerman 1941, Hutterer & Dieterlen 1984, Musser & Carleton 1993, 2005) recognized as valid species within the genus Grammomys. Without knowledge and investigation of the holotype was synonymized 1919 by Ned Hollister with the Mozambique bush mouse ( Grammomys cometes ). The significantly larger body and skull dimensions can, however, suggest that there is a unique species Grammomys gigas. The height to the African bush mouse ( Grammomys ibeanus ) are indeed in a similar range as that of G. gigas what Guy Musser and Michael D. Carleton suggested that it ibeanus with G. gigas is a very large specimen of G. could act, the Skull and teeth of G. gigas, however, are much larger than in G. ibeanus.

Status

The IUCN lists the Large bush mouse in the category " endangered " ( endangered ). Information on population size and population trend are not available. The range of the species comprises less than 2,000 km ². The habitat is threatened by logging for livestock and firewood as well as the conversion into agricultural land.