676.

Common Red-nosed Mouse

Wiedomys pyrrhorinos

French: Wiedomys a nez rouge / German: Gemeine Rotnasenmaus / Spanish: Ratén de hocico rojo comun

Other common names: Red-nosed Mouse, Red-nosed Wiedomys

Taxonomy. Mus pyrrhorinos Wied-Neuwied, 1821, “Catinga.” Clarified by F. D. de Avila-Pires in 1965 as “caatingas along the Riacho da Ressaca, between the farms Tamboril and Ilha, State of Bahia, Brazil, near the Minas Gerais boundary.”

Wiedomys pyrrhorinos is the type species of the genus. Widely used pirrhorhynos is rejected as although the original pyrrhorinos 1S an incorrect transliteration, it remains a correct original spelling according to Article. 32.5.1 of the International Code on Zoological Nomenclature. Monotypic.

Distribution. NE Brazil (Ceara to Minas Geraisstates).

Descriptive notes. Head—body 104-113 mm, tail 110-185 mm, ear 18-23 mm, hindfoot 25-29 mm; weight 37-45 g. Dorsal pelage of the Common Red-nosed Mouse is grizzled brown, soft, and dense. Sides of body are grayish, contrasting white of venter, forelimbs, and medial region of hindlimbs. Rump, eye-ring, ears, pinnae, and muzzle are bright orange. Mystacial vibrissae are long, extending beyond distal limit of pinnae. Tail is entirely dark brown, but proximal ventral surface is slightly paler.

Habitat. Scrub forest or caatingas of north-eastern Brazil.

Food and Feeding. The Common Red-nosed Mouse eats seeds and insects.

Breeding. Meanlitter size is 5-6 embryos (range 2-11), with four embryos most frequent. Pregnant females were mainly found in the wet season; males with vascularized testes were detected throughout the year. The Common Red-nosed Mouse seems capable of reproducing even during long periods of water stress. Monthly percentages of pregnant females were highly correlated with amount of rainfall in the same and previous month.

Activity patterns. The Common Red-nosed Mouse is nocturnal and crepuscular. Diurnal use of abandoned ovoid bird nests in cacti Pilosocereus gounellei was reported. The species also used termite nests previously occupied by parrots. It is reportedly semiarboreal or scansorial.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Populations can dramatically increase causing outbreaks in years in which the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) raises rainfall above average.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List as (W. pyrrhorhinos). The Common Red-nosed Mouse has a wide distribution, presumably a large overall population, and tolerance of broad variety of habitats.

Bibliography. de Avila-Pires (1965), Bocchiglieri et al. (2012), Bonvicino (2015), Hershkovitz (1959), Mares, Willig et al. (1981), Marinho-Filho & Langguth (2008), Moojen (1943, 1952), Sobral & Oliveira (2014), Streilein (1982b, 1982c).