The eastern spiny mouse or Arabian spiny mouse (''Acomys dimidiatus'') is a species of

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are n ...

in the family

Muridae The Muridae, or murids, are the largest family of rodents and of mammals, containing approximately 1,383 species, including many species of mice, rats, and gerbils found naturally throughout Eurasia, Africa, and Australia. The name Muridae comes ...

. They have a wide range, having been found in

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

ern deserts, as well as being prevalent in

riverine forest A riparian forest or riparian woodland is a forested or wooded area of land adjacent to a body of water such as a river, stream, pond, lake, marshland, estuary, canal, sink or reservoir. Etymology The term riparian comes from the Latin word ...

s in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. This is the only species of spiny mouse which may have black coloration. Their diet is similar to other species of spiny mouse, consisting mostly of seeds.

Description

The eastern spiny mouse is a small rodent with a head-and-body length of up to and a tail of up to , and a maximum weight of about . The fur feels coarse when rubbed against the lie of the hairs, each individual hair being dark tan with a greyish tip. The tail appears naked but is in fact clad with short bristles.

Distribution

This mouse has a wide distribution in the Middle East, its range extending from the Sinai Peninsula, through Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Israel, to the Arabian Peninsula, southern Iraq, southern Iran and southern Pakistan. It occurs in semi-arid or arid regions, in dry forests, scrubby and rocky areas at altitudes of up to . It can be present in agricultural land and sometimes invades houses.

Ecology

The species is nocturnal, avoiding the heat of the day and foraging at night for seeds, and sometimes insects and grasses. It is a sociable animal and lives in small groups. Females become mature at about two months of age and can produce litters of up to five young after a

gestation Gestation is the period of development during the carrying of an embryo, and later fetus, inside viviparous animals (the embryo develops within the parent). It is typical for mammals, but also occurs for some non-mammals. Mammals during pr ...

period of about 42 days. Another female in the family group may help with care of the young, which are weaned after about a fortnight. Its spiny hair may help to prevent

predation Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill ...

, perhaps making the animal harder to swallow, and this mouse is also capable of shedding its tail in order to escape from a predator. In captivity, this mouse can live for five years, but three years may be a more realistic life expectancy in the wild.

Status

The eastern spiny mouse is common throughout most of its range. It is adaptable and no particular threats have been identified, so the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has listed its conservation status as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1765953 Acomys Mammals of Pakistan Mammals described in 1826 Taxa named by Philipp Jakob Cretzschmar