The dainty fat mouse (''Steatomys cuppedius'') 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

Nesomyidae The Nesomyidae are a family of African rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. It includes several subfamilies, all of which are native to either continental Africa or to Madagascar. Included in this family are Malagasy rodents, ...

. It is found in

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesNigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, and

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is subtropical or tropical dry

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It m ...

Description

The dainty fat mouse has a head-and-body length of between and a tail length of between . It weighs between . It is a light sandy-brown colour and always has eight nipples. It is one of three species of fat mouse occurring in West Africa. It can be distinguished from the

northwestern fat mouse The northwestern fat mouse (''Steatomys caurinus'') is a species of rodent in the family Nesomyidae. It is native to tropical West Africa where it occurs on grassland and crop land. Taxonomy The northwestern fat mouse was first described as ''St ...

(''Steatomys caurinus'') by being smaller and paler, by having a relatively longer tail, which is always at least half the head-and-body length, and by having fewer nipples. The third species,

Jackson's fat mouse The Jackson's fat mouse (''Steatomys jacksoni'') is a species of rodent in the family Nesomyidae. It is found in Ghana, Nigeria and possibly Benin. Its natural habitats are arable land Arable land (from the la, arabilis, "able to be ploughed ...

(''Steatomys jacksoni''), does not share the same range, being found only in southern Ghana and southern Nigeria, and has twelve nipples.

Distribution and habitat

The dainty fat mouse is native to tropical West Africa. Its range extends from Senegal through southern Mali, Burkina Faso, southern Niger, northern Benin and northwestern Nigeria, at altitudes of between above sea level. Its typical habitat is somewhat shrubby grassland.

Status

The dainty fat mouse is a somewhat uncommon species showing considerable population swings. It has a wide range and a presumed large total population, and is present in several protected areas. It is caught and eaten for food in some parts of its range but this is not thought to have a significant impact, 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 "

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=Q927397 Steatomys Mammals described in 1920 Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas Taxa named by Martin Hinton Taxonomy articles created by Polbot