Mice in the genus ''Dendromus'' are commonly referred to as African climbing mice or tree mice, although these terms are often used to describe all members of the subfamily

Dendromurinae Dendromurinae is a subfamily of rodents in the family Nesomyidae and superfamily Muroidea. The dendromurines are currently restricted to Africa, as is the case for all extant members of the family Nesomyidae. The authorship of the subfamily has ...

. The genus is currently restricted to

sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

, but

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s classified in the genus have been found from Late

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

deposits in

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Characteristics

Mice in the genus ''Dendromus'' are small (Head and body: 5–10 cm) with relatively long tails (6–13 cm). This tail is semi-

prehensile Prehensility is the quality of an appendage or organ (anatomy), organ that has Adaptation (biology), adapted for grasping or holding. The word is derived from the Latin term ''prehendere'', meaning "to grasp". The ability to grasp is likely der ...

and provides an aid in climbing. The dense fur is grey or brown and either one or two stripes are present on the back. Unlike most other

muroid The Muroidea are a large superfamily of rodents, including mice, rats, voles, hamsters, lemmings, gerbils, and many other relatives. Although the Muroidea originated in Eurasia, they occupy a vast variety of habitats on every continent except A ...

s, these mice have only three fingers on each hand. They are also distinguished by their grooved

incisor Incisors (from Latin ''incidere'', "to cut") are the front teeth present in most mammals. They are located in the premaxilla above and on the mandible below. Humans have a total of eight (two on each side, top and bottom). Opossums have 18, whe ...

Natural history

Habitat varies widely.

Elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...

ranges from

sea-level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

to 4300 m. Anecdotal evidence suggests they are

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the Animal locomotion, locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally, but others are exclusively arboreal. Th ...

, but data supporting this

hypothesis A hypothesis (plural hypotheses) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. For a hypothesis to be a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it. Scientists generally base scientific hypotheses on previous obse ...

are limited. They do appear to be good climbers and the degree to which they spend time in trees seems to vary by species.

Species

Genus ''Dendromus'' - Climbing mice * Montane African climbing mouse, ''Dendromus insignis'' * Mount Kahuzi climbing mouse, ''Dendromus kahuziensis'' *'' Dendromus lachaisei'' * Monard's African climbing mouse, ''Dendromus leucostomus'' * Lovat's climbing mouse, ''Dendromus lovati'' * Gray climbing mouse, ''Dendromus melanotis'' * Brants's climbing mouse, ''Dendromus mesomelas'' * Banana climbing mouse, ''Dendromus messorius'' *

Chestnut climbing mouse The chestnut climbing mouse (''Dendromus mystacalis'') is a species of rodent in the family Nesomyidae. It is found in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Eswatini, Tanzan ...

, ''Dendromus mystacalis'' * Kivu climbing mouse, ''Dendromus nyasae (kivu)'' * Nyika climbing mouse, ''Dendromus nyikae'' * Cameroon climbing mouse, ''Dendromus oreas'' *'' Dendromus ruppi'' * Vernay's climbing mouse, ''Dendromus vernayi''

References

*Denys, C. and V. Aniskine. 2012. On a new species of ''Dendromus'' (Rodentia, Nesomyidae) from Mount Nimba, Guinea. Mammalia, 76:295–308. *McKenna, Malcolm C., and Bell, Susan K. 1997. ''Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level.'' Columbia University Press, New York, 631 pp. *Musser, G. G. and M. D. Carleton. 2005. Superfamily Muroidea. pp. 894–1531 ''in'' Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. *Nowak, Ronald M. 1999. ''Walker's Mammals of the World'', 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1936 pp. {{Taxonbar, from=Q386262 Taxa named by Andrew Smith (zoologist) Rodent genera