Hotson's mouse-like hamster (''Calomyscus hotsoni'') also known as Hotson's calomyscus or Hotson's brush-tailed mouse 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
Calomyscidae
200px, right
200px, Mouse-like hamster using its tail for balance while standing on a branch (a feat difficult for hamsters)
Mouse-like hamsters are a group of small rodents found in Syria, Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Pakis ...
.
It is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
to southwestern
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
and southeastern
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
(Musser and Carleton, 2005; Norris et al., 2008).
Name
The species was named by
Oldfield Thomas after
John Ernest Buttery Hotson who collected the original 4 specimens in
Balochistan
Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...
in 1918. The species had traditionally been called Hotson's mouse-like hamster because of the presumed relationship between members of the genus ''
Calomyscus'' and the
hamster
Hamsters are rodents (order Rodentia) belonging to the subfamily Cricetinae, which contains 19 species classified in seven genera.Fox, Sue. 2006. ''Hamsters''. T.F.H. Publications Inc. They have become established as popular small pets. The ...
s. Musser and Carleton (1993) considered ''Calomyscus'' to be distinct enough from the hamsters to warrant a distinct subfamily. Numerous molecular studies (Michaux et al., 2001; Jansa and Weksler, 2004; Steppan et al., 2004) have supported the distinctive nature of the genus, and they are currently recognized as belonging to a distinct family,
Calomyscidae
200px, right
200px, Mouse-like hamster using its tail for balance while standing on a branch (a feat difficult for hamsters)
Mouse-like hamsters are a group of small rodents found in Syria, Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Pakis ...
(Musser and Carleton, 2005).
In order to underscore that members of the genus ''Calomyscus'' are not related to hamsters, Musser and Carlton (2005) suggested the name Hotson's calomyscus, using the genus name as a common name. Norris et al. (2008) agreed that the use of the term "hamster" should be avoided, but disagreed with the application of a genus name in place of a common name. Although they preferred the use of a local name, they reported that the
languages of southern Pakistan do not distinguish among small rodent species (see
haraam
''Haram'' (; ar, حَرَام, , ) is an Arabic term meaning 'Forbidden'. This may refer to either something sacred to which access is not allowed to the people who are not in a state of purity or who are not initiated into the sacred knowle ...
). Instead, Norris et al. (2008) proposed that the species be referred to as Hotson's brush-tailed mouse, identifying a major morphological feature of the genus. Jordan et al. (2008) have since adopted this as the primary common name, but also list Hotson's mouse-like hamster (but not Hotson's Calomyscus). As with most species of
small mammal, common names are rarely used outside of checklists and
field guide
A field guide is a book designed to help the reader identify wildlife (flora or fauna) or other objects of natural occurrence (e.g. rocks and minerals). It is generally designed to be brought into the "field" or local area where such objects exi ...
s, and most researchers employ the
binomial name, ''Calomyscus hotsoni''.
Distribution and characteristics
Because it was only known from the 4 specimens of the type series at the time, Baillie (1996) categorized Hotson's brush-tailed mouse as endangered. Musser and Carleton (2005 later referred 12 individuals collected by Gary Ranck in 1962 from southeastern Iran to this species. Norris et al. (2008) reported collecting ''C. hotsoni'' in
Panjgur District
Panjgur ( bal, پنجگور, ur, ) is a district in the west Balochistan province of Pakistan. Panjgur was one of three districts of Makran District until 1 July 1977, when the district became a part of Makran Division. The other two distri ...
(5 individuals), near
Shergart Fort in
Dadu District
Dadu District ( sd, ضلعو دادو), ( ur, ) is a district of Sindh Province, Pakistan. With headquarters the city of Dadu, the district was created in 1931 by merging Kotri and Mahal Kohistan (later Jamshoro) tehsils from Karachi District a ...
(1 individual),
Hingol National Park
Hingol National Park or Hungol National Park ( ur, ) is the largest national park in Pakistan, located in the Makran coastal region. The park covers an area of about and is located 190 km from Karachi in the three districts of Gwadar, Lasbe ...
(1 individual), and near
Wadh
Wadh ( ur, ) is a
City in the Khuzdar District of Balochistan, Pakistan. The population of the City was 480,950 according to the 2017 census. Most of the inhabitants of the sub-district belong to the Mengal tribe . The land of Wadh is agricultur ...
(2 individuals). Currently ''Calomyscus hotsoni'' is present in 4 museums: the
Bombay Museum of Natural History (3 individuals), the
Field Museum (1 individual), the
Smithsonian (12 individuals), and the
Florida Museum of Natural History (9 individuals). With new information suggesting the species was more widespread than previously thought, Jordan et al. (2008) listed the species as Least Concern.
''Calomyscus hotsoni'' is smaller than the other species in Pakistan (''
C. baluchi''), and has a smaller hind foot (Norris et al., 2008). It has "black-tipped, pale yellow-brown pelage" (Norris et al., 2008:312). The two species in Pakistan are distinguishable by several
cranial
Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position pro ...
characteristics and
gene
In biology, the word gene (from , ; "... Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a b ...
tic evidence suggests they diverged roughly 2 million years ago (Norris et al., 2008).
Natural history
''Calomyscus hotsoni'' is found at elevations ranging from 67–1890 meters (Jordan et al., 2008). It tends to be found in rocky habitats in arid regions particularly in association with dwarf palms (''
Nannorrhops ritchiana''). Norris et al. (2008) report having captured ''
Mus saxicola'' and ''
Acomys dimidiatus'' in the same areas.
References
*Jansa, S. A. and M. Weksler. 2004. Phylogeny of
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 excep ...
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 ...
s: relationships within and among major lineages as determined by IRBP
gene
In biology, the word gene (from , ; "... Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a b ...
sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 31:256-276.
*Michaux, J., A. Reyes, and F. Catzeflis. 2001. Evolutionary history of the most speciose
mammals: molecular
phylogeny
A phylogenetic tree (also phylogeny or evolutionary tree Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA.) is a branching diagram or a tree showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological spe ...
of
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 excep ...
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 ...
s. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 17:280-293.
*Musser, G. G. and M. D. Carleton. 1993. Family Muridae. pp. 501–755 in Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C.
*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.
*Norris, R. W., C. A. Woods, and C. W. Kilpatrick. 2008. Morphological and molecular definition of ''Calomyscus hotsoni'' (Rodentia: Muroidea: Calomyscidae). Journal of Mammalogy, 89 (2):306-315.
*Steppan, S. J., R. A. Adkins, and J. Anderson. 2004.
Phylogeny
A phylogenetic tree (also phylogeny or evolutionary tree Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA.) is a branching diagram or a tree showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological spe ...
and
divergence date
In vector calculus, divergence is a vector operator that operates on a vector field, producing a scalar field giving the quantity of the vector field's source at each point. More technically, the divergence represents the volume density of th ...
estimates of rapid radiations in
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 excep ...
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 ...
s based on multiple nuclear
genes. Systematic Biology, 53:533-553.
* Thomas, Oldfield. 1920. 'Some new Mammals from Baluchistan and North-West India', ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'', vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 938–940.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q305735
Mouse-like hamsters
Mammals of Pakistan
Mouse-like Hamster, Hotson's
Mammals described in 1920
Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot