''Chiropodomys'' (or pencil-tailed tree mice) is a genus of

Old World rats and mice The Old World rats and mice, part of the subfamily Murinae in the Family (biology), family Muridae, comprise at least 519 species. Members of this subfamily are called murines. In terms of species richness, this subfamily is larger than all mam ...

native to

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...

and northeast

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. They are tree-dwelling, very small mice, mostly found in

tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as ''lowland equa ...

. In total six extant species have been identified, but only one of these, '' Chiropodomys gliroides'', is common and widely distributed, and has been extensively studied.

Species

Genus ''Chiropodomys'' — pencil-tailed tree mice: * Palawan pencil-tailed tree mouse, ''Chiropodomys calamianensis'' Taylor, 1934,

Palawan Palawan (), officially the Province of Palawan ( cyo, Probinsya i'ang Palawan; tl, Lalawigan ng Palawan), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in t ...

and neighboring islands *

Indomalayan pencil-tailed tree mouse The Indomalayan pencil-tailed tree mouse or simply pencil-tailed tree mouse (''Chiropodomys gliroides'') is a species of arboreal rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in northeastern India, southern China (including Hainan), Myanmar, Thailan ...

, ''Chiropodomys gliroides'' Blyth, 1856, northeast

, southeastern China, mainland Southeast Asia, Sumatra,

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...

Koopman's pencil-tailed tree mouse Koopman's pencil-tailed tree mouse (''Chiropodomys karlkoopmani'') is a species of arboreal rodent in the family Muridae. It is endemic to Pagai and Siberut islands in the Mentawai Islands, off the western coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. Its natur ...

, ''Chiropodomys karlkoopmani'' Musser, 1979,

Mentawai Islands Mentawai may refer to: * Mentawai Islands * Mentawai Strait * Mentawai people * Mentawai language The Mentawai language is an Austronesian language, spoken by the Mentawai people of the Mentawai Islands, West Sumatra, Indonesia. Dialects Ac ...

* Large pencil-tailed tree mouse, ''Chiropodomys major'' Thomas, 1893,

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...

Gray-bellied pencil-tailed tree mouse The gray-bellied pencil-tailed tree mouse (''Chiropodomys muroides'') is a species of arboreal rodent in the family Muridae. It is endemic to Borneo where it is known from Gunung Kinabalu (Sabah, Malaysia) and from Long Petak in northern Kaliman ...

, ''Chiropodomys muroides'' Medway, 1965, Borneo *

Small pencil-tailed tree mouse The small pencil-tailed tree mouse or lesser pencil-tailed tree mouse (''Chiropodomys pusillus'') is a species of arboreal rodent in the family Muridae. It is endemic to Borneo where it is only known from Sabah and Sarawak (Malaysia) and from sou ...

, ''Chiropodomys pusillus'' Thomas, 1893, Borneo * †'' Chiropodomys maximus'',

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

* †'' Chiropodomys primitivus'', southern China

Description

Species of ''Chiropodomys'' have a body length of 7 to 12 cm, plus a tail of 9 to 17 cm. They are generally gray or brown on the back and white underneath. The tail is only sparsely covered with hair, but has somewhat more at the end, giving the appearance of a

pencil A pencil () is a writing or drawing implement with a solid pigment core in a protective casing that reduces the risk of core breakage, and keeps it from marking the user's hand. Pencils create marks by physical abrasion, leaving a trail ...

, thus the genus name. ''Chiropodomys gliroides'' is particularly common in

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...

forest. It is active at night, sleeps during the day in a nest in the bamboo, padded with leaves. It eats exclusively plants. Previously, it was thought that ''Chiropodomys'' were closely related to the genus '' Hapalomys'' (marmoset rats), with both forming a clade with ''

Micromys ''Micromys'' is a genus of small rodents in the subfamily Murinae. The genus contains two living species: the widespread Eurasian harvest mouse (''Micromys minutus'') of much of Europe and Asia; and the more restricted Indochinese harvest mouse ...

'' and ''

Vandeleuria ''Vandeleuria'' is a small genus of rodent from Asia with only three species. It is the only member of the tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide us ...

''; however, more recent phylogenetic studies support them being closely allied with the Australasian mice and rats of the tribe

Hydromyini Hydromyini is a very large, diverse tribe of muroid rodents in the subfamily Murinae. They are the dominant native rodents in Australasia and one of only two native rodent groups there, the other being the ''R. fuscipes'' group of the genus ''Rat ...

, either as a distinct tribe of their own or as a group within Hydromyini.

References

* Ronald M. Nowak: ''Walker's Mammals of the World''. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999 * Wells K, Pfeiffer M, Lakim MB & Linsenmair KE (2004) "Arboreal spacing patterns of the Large pencil-tailed tree mouse ''Chiropodomys major'' in a rainforest in Sabah, Malaysia." ''Ecotropica'' 10 : 15-22 * Wells K, Pfeiffer M, Lakim MB & Linsenmair KE (2004) "Use of arboreal and terrestrial space by a small mammal community in a tropical rain forest in Borneo, Malaysia." ''Journal of Biogeography' 31 : 641-652. :''This article is based on a translation of an

article Article often refers to: * Article (grammar), a grammatical element used to indicate definiteness or indefiniteness * Article (publishing), a piece of nonfictional prose that is an independent part of a publication Article may also refer to: G ...

from the German Wikipedia, retrieved on November 22, 2006. {{Taxonbar, from=Q579868 Chiropodomys Fauna of Southeast Asia Taxa named by Wilhelm Peters