52.

Monard’s African Climbing Mouse

Dendromus leucostomus

French: Dendromus de Monard / German: Monard-Klettermaus / Spanish: Raton trepador africano de Monard

Taxonomy. Dendromus leucostomus Monard, 1933,

Caluquembe, Angola.

Dendromus leucostomus is considered conspecific with D. melanotis by some authorities but differs from it by lacking mid-dorsal stripe. Monotypic.

Distribution. Only known from a single site in EC Angola.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 47-69 mm, tail 57-80 mm, ear 14-15 mm, hindfoot 16—-18 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. Monard’s African Climbing Mouse is small, with very long prehensile tail. Fur is long,soft, and rich brown dorsally and off-white ventrally. Base of each hair is dark gray. There is no mid-dorsalline or stripe. Ears are relatively large and rounded. Limbs are adapted for climbing. Second to fourth digits of forelimbs have elongated claws, and first and fifth digits are greatly reduced. Hindlimb has second to fourth digits elongated, fifth digit long and opposable with flattened nail, and first digit greatly reduced.

Habitat. No information.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. No information.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Not assessed on The IUCN Red List. Monard’s African Climbing Mouse is known fromjust a single site in a region that is experiencing rapid habitat transformation. Special conservation actions might be necessary to preventits extinction.

Bibliography. Crawford-Cabral (1998), Denys & Aniskine (2012), Hill & Carter (1941), Monadjem (2013a), Monadjem et al. (2015).