The white-footed climbing mouse (''Rhipidomys leucodactylus'') is a species of South American rodent found in

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 ...

, Brazil, Ecuador, French Guiana,

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

, Peru,

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

and Venezuela. It is the type species of the genus and the type location was the lower eastern slopes of the Andes in central Peru.

Description

With a head-and-body length of , the white-footed climbing mouse is the largest species in the genus. The dorsal fur is typically medium brown, with the hairs being banded in yellowish and reddish hues, and long dark guard hairs being scattered throughout the coat. The flanks are rather paler and the underparts yellowish, cream or white, the hairs having grey bases. The tail is about the same length as the head-and-body and is densely clad in short reddish to dark brown fur and terminates with a long tuft of hair. The hind feet are large; the dorsal surface has a large dark patch which extends onto the first or second phalanges of digits II to V, and sometimes also onto digit I. The sides of the feet and around the toes are a silvery colour.

Distribution and habitat

The white-footed climbing mouse is native to the rainforests of the Amazon Orinoco basin; it is present in the lowlands of west and central Brazil as well as the Andean piedmont area in eastern Bolivia and Venezuela. In Peru, its upper altitudinal limit is . It is typically found in the canopy of trees growing in terra firme humid forest.

Ecology

The white-footed climbing mouse normally lives in humid evergreen forests. It is a

frugivore A frugivore is an animal that thrives mostly on raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts and seeds. Approximately 20% of mammalian herbivores eat fruit. Frugivores are highly dependent on the abundance an ...

and has been found among crops, where it is considered a

pest Pest or The Pest may refer to: Science and medicine * Pest (organism), an animal or plant deemed to be detrimental to humans or human concerns ** Weed, a plant considered undesirable * Infectious disease, an illness resulting from an infection ** ...

, and inside dwellings; it has been reported as gnawing a pineapple, eating

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...

and yucca. Pregnant females with two or three embryos have been observed in Peru in August and September, and in Ecuador in September and November. One individual was nesting in a hole off the ground in a tree.

Status

This is a generally uncommon species which has a very wide distribution. The population trend is unknown but the total population is assumed to be large and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated the animal's conservation status as being of " least concern".

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1764614 Rhipidomys Mammals described in 1844