''Notiomys edwardsii'', also known as Edwards's long-clawed mouse,
[ Edward's long-clawed akodont,][Musser and Carleton, 2005, p. 1136] or Milne-Edwards' long-clawed mouse, is a 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 na ...
in the tribe Abrotrichini
Abrotrichini, also known as the Andean clade or southern Andean clade,Musser and Carleton, 2005, p. 1087 is a tribe of rodents in the subfamily Sigmodontinae.D'Elía et al., 2007, p. 188 It includes about fifteen species in four gener ...
from southern Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
. It is the only species in the genus ''Notiomys'', although species of ''Chelemys
''Chelemys'' is a genus of South American rodents in the tribe Abrotrichini of family Cricetidae. Three species—''Chelemys delfini'', ''Chelemys macronyx'', and ''Chelemys megalonyx''—are known, all found in central and southern Chile and Arge ...
'' and ''Geoxus
''Geoxus'' is a genus of South American rodents in the tribe Abrotrichini of family Cricetidae
The Cricetidae are a family of rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. It includes true hamsters, voles, lemmings, muskrats, and ...
'' were formerly included in that genus.[
]
Description
Edwards's long-clawed mouse is a small mouse with a short tail, having a total length of about , including a tail of about .pinnae
The auricle or auricula is the visible part of the ear that is outside the head. It is also called the pinna (Latin for "wing" or " fin", plural pinnae), a term that is used more in zoology.
Structure
The diagram shows the shape and location ...
are small and rounded, the thin margins being clad in white hairs. The tail is well furred, being buffy-white above and white below. The fore feet have long nails some in length. The hind feet are short and broad, being fringed with bristly hairs at the sides, and having furred heel pads and naked soles; they have claws.
Distribution and habitat
The species 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 elsew ...
to Santa Cruz Province, Chubut Province
Chubut ( es, Provincia del Chubut, ; cy, Talaith Chubut) is a province in southern Argentina, situated between the 42nd parallel south (the border with Río Negro Province), the 46th parallel south (bordering Santa Cruz Province), the Andes ra ...
and Río Negro Province
Río Negro (, ''Black River'') is a province of Argentina, located in northern Patagonia. Neighboring provinces are from the south clockwise Chubut, Neuquén, Mendoza, La Pampa and Buenos Aires. To the east lies the Atlantic Ocean.
Its capit ...
in southern Argentina. Its typical habitats are shrubby and herbaceous steppe
In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes.
Steppe biomes may include:
* the montane grasslands and shrublands biome
* the temperate grasslands, ...
, grassy steppes and rocky plateaus with shrubs and bunchgrass
Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are a group of grass species in the family Poaceae. They usually grow as singular plants in clumps, tufts, hummocks, or bunches, rather than forming a sod or lawn, in meadows, grasslands, and prairies. As perennial ...
.[
]
Ecology
The ecology of this burrowing mouse has been little studied. It mostly feeds on insects but may also consume seeds. One specimen was found inside the burrow of a Haig's tuco-tuco
Haig's tuco-tuco (''Ctenomys haigi''), known regionally as the Patagonian tuco-tuco, is a hystricognath rodent. Like other tuco-tucos it is subterranean and thus not often observed, although the "tuc-tuc" call of the males can be heard near bur ...
(''Ctenomys haigi''). Before 1998, only eight localities across Patagonia were known. More recently, as a result of more-intensive surveys, over fifty localities have been identified, some by finding the remains of mice in owl pellets.[
]
Conservation status
Edwards's long-clawed mouse has a wide range and is present in several protected areas. It is common in some places and uncommon in others, and is assumed to have a large total population. No particular threats have been identified and the population appears to be steady, 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 assessed 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. T ...
".[
]
References
Literature cited
*Duff, A. and Lawson, A. 2004. Mammals of the World: A checklist. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 312 pp.
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1294241
Abrotrichini
Mammals of Argentina
Mammals described in 1890
Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas