The southern climbing mouse (''Rhipidomys austrinus'') 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 na ...

in the family Cricetidae. It is found in

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 ...

and

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

in forested valleys and on slopes on the eastern side of the Andes Mountains.

Description

The southern climbing mouse grows to a head-and-body length of about , with a tail some 110 to 135% longer than this. There is a clear demarcation line between the dorsal and ventral pelage; the dorsal fur is dense and varies in colour from greyish brown to orangish brown, while the hairs of the ventral region have dark grey bases and creamy tips. The ears are large and oval in shape and the molars are large. The hind-feet are fairly large with clearly-outlined dark patches on their upper surfaces extending to the bases of the digits. The tail is brown with short hairs along its length and a terminal tuft of hairs.

Distribution and habitat

The southern climbing mouse is found on the eastern slopes of the Andes in South America. Its range extends from

Jujuy Province Jujuy is a province of Argentina, located in the extreme northwest of the country, at the borders with Chile and Bolivia. The only neighboring Argentine province is Salta to the east and south. Geography There are three main areas in Jujuy: * ...

in northwestern Argentina northwards to Santa Cruz Department in central Bolivia and La Paz Department in northwestern Bolivia. Its altitudinal range is between about , occurring at lower altitudes in Argentina and higher ones in La Paz, where it shares some of the valley systems with Gardner's climbing mouse (''Rhipidomys gardneri'') but generally occurs at higher elevations than that species. Its typical habitat is the

Yungas The Yungas (Aymara ''yunka'' warm or temperate Andes or earth, Quechua ''yunka'' warm area on the slopes of the Andes) is a bioregion of a narrow band of forest along the eastern slope of the Andes Mountains from Peru and Bolivia, and extends into ...

forest that occurs in the densely wooded valleys, but in Argentina it also occurs in montane, transitional and lowland forests. It is nocturnal and a good tree climber, and is sometimes considered a pest in coffee plantations.

Status

The southern climbing mouse is a common species with a wide distribution which seems to have a stable population and has adapted to many habitats, 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 rated 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

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1767827 Rhipidomys Mammals described in 1921 Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas Taxonomy articles created by Polbot