''Abrothrix longipilis'', also known as the long-haired grass mouse or long-haired akodont,Musser and Carleton, 2005, p. 1089 is a species of

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...

in the family

Cricetidae The Cricetidae are a family of rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. It includes true hamsters, voles, lemmings, muskrats, and New World rats and mice. At over 870 species, it is either the largest or second-largest family ...

. It is endemic to central

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. Until 2014 it was thought that the species extended into southern Chile and Argentine Patagonia but these populations are now proposed to belong to closely related species named '' Abrothrix hirta''. The southern Chilean '' Abrothrix sanborni'' may not be distinct from this species.Musser and Carleton, 2005, p. 1090

Description

The long-haired grass mouse is a large, robust grass mouse, with a head-and-body length of about . It varies in colour across its wide range, but in most populations the dorsal hair is reddish-brown with long guard hairs, the flanks are more greyish and the underparts are grey. The tail is bicoloured, dark above and pale below.

Distribution and habitat

The species is found in central and southern Chile, and in Argentina as far southward as the Rio Negro and

Chubut Chubut may refer to: * Chubut Province Chubut ( from Tehuelche language, Tehuelche 'transparent'; ) is a provinces of Argentina, province in southern Argentina, situated between the 42nd parallel south (the border with Río Negro Province), ...

provinces of Patagonia. Its chief habitat is the ''

Nothofagus ''Nothofagus'', also known as the southern beeches, is a genus of 43 species of trees and shrubs native to the Southern Hemisphere, found across southern South America (Chile, Argentina) and east and southeast Australia, New Zealand, New Guin ...

'' forests of the region but it is also found in rocky areas, marshy areas, tussock grass and steppe with shrubs.

Ecology

The long-haired grass mouse is active both in the day and the night. It is an efficient excavator and digs burrows, but it is also a good tree climber. In Argentina it feeds on berries, seeds, insects, slugs, worms, fungi and fern spores. The diet differs in different parts of Chile, either consisting of insects and plant material, or insects and fungi, just insects or just fungi. Breeding takes place in the spring and summer. The litter size averages just below four and at least some individuals overwinter twice. Home ranges in the Patagonian ''Nothofagus'' forest vary between 0.4 and 4.8 individuals per hectare in spring, and 2.8 to 10.8 individuals per hectare in autumn. This grass mouse is preyed on by the

barn owl The barn owls, owls in the genus '' Tyto'', are the most widely distributed genus of owls in the world. They are medium-sized owls with large heads and characteristic heart-shaped faces. They have long, strong legs with powerful talons. The ter ...

, the

lesser horned owl The lesser horned owl or Magellanic horned owl (''Bubo magellanicus'') is a large owl of the genus ''Bubo'' found in southern South America, extending north to the central Andes. It has traditionally been classified as a subspecies of the great h ...

, the rufous-legged owl, the white-tailed kite and the

South American gray fox The South American gray fox (''Lycalopex griseus''), also known as the Patagonian fox, the ''chilla'' or ''zorro gris'' (gray fox or gray zorro), is a South America, South American species of ''Lycalopex'' (the "false" or lesser foxes) in the Ca ...

. It is also an important reservoir species for the Andes virus, which is a major causative agent of the disease Hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome.

Status

''A. longipilis'' has a wide range and is presumed to have a large total population. The population trend may be downward but it is an abundant species and the decline is not at a rate to cause concern, so the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

has rated its conservation status as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

".Pardinas et al., 2008

References

Literature cited

* *Pardinas, U., D'Elia, G. & Patterson, B. 2008. . In IUCN. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.2.
www.iucnredlist.org
. Downloaded on January 12, 2010. {{Taxonbar, from=Q305861 Mammals of Argentina Mammals of Chile Abrothrix Mammals described in 1837 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot