548.

Peters’s Mouse

Mus setulosus

French: Souris hérissée / German: Peters-Zwergmaus / Spanish: Raton de Peters

Taxonomy. Mus setulosus Peters, 1876, Victoria, Cameroon.

Specimens from NE DR Congo attributed to present species by D. C. D. Happold in 2013 were subsequently reassigned to M. bufo on molecular grounds by J. Bryja and colleagues in 2014. The latter authors also found that Ethiopian specimens previously included in this species form an undescribed phylogenetically distinct species (cf. proconodon). Monotypic.

Distribution. Scattered across W, C & E Africa (from Guinea E to Ghana and W Nigeria; Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, and W Republic of the Congo; and Ethiopia).

Descriptive notes. Head-body 52-84 mm, tail 43-63 mm, ear 8-14 mm, hindfoot 13-17 mm; weight 8-23 g. Small mouse with short tail. Fur is short and slightly coarse, dull blackish brown above and pure white or off white below. Tail is short (¢.67% of head-body length), dark above and below. Ears darkly pigmented, covered with short gray or buff hairs, without postauricular white spot. Largest West African Mus, with duller-colored fur than other co-occurring Mus species. Based on cytochrome-b sequences, as currently constituted, this species represents a species complex of at least three species lineages from: Ethiopia (cf. proconodon); Central Africa ( setulosus); and West Africa ( setulosus “West”). Chromosomal complement is 2n = 36, FN = 36.

Habitat. Broad range of habitats from low to high altitudes, from rainforest, riverine, tropical deciduous and montane forests and adjacent grasslands to cultivated clearings in forests. Elevational range varies geographically, e.g. 500-1300 m on Mount Nimba, Liberia, 1550-2300 m in the mountains of Cameroon and Nigeria, and 1000-1750 m in the Ethiopian highlands.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. Peters’s Mice are nocturnal and terrestrial.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List.

Bibliography. Bryja, Mikula, Sumbera et al. (2014), Happold (2013a), Jotterand-Bellomo (1986), Lamb et al. (2014), Matthey (1966), Monadjem et al. (2015), Rosevear (1969), Yalden et al. (1976).