217.

Short-nosed Harvest Mouse

Reithrodontomys brevirostris

French: Souris-moissonneuse a nez court / German: Kurznasen-Erntemaus / Spanish: Ratén espiguero de hocico corto

Taxonomy. Reithrodontomys brevirostris Goodwin, 1943, canyons above Villa Quesada, 5000 ft. (= 1524 m), Alajuela Province, Costa Rica.

Reithrodontomys mexicanus potrerograndei is recognized as a subjective junior synonym of R. brevirostris . Reithrodontomys brevirostris is in subgenus Aporodon. Two subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution.

R.b.brevirostrisGoodwin,1943—knownonlyfromtwodisjunctareasintheCordilleraCentralofNC&SECostaRica.

R. b. nicaraguae]. K. Jones & Genoways, 1970 — known only from the type locality and surrounding regions of the Cordillera Dariense in NC Nicaragua.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 62-69 mm, tail 97-114 mm, ear 14-16 mm, hindfoot 16-19 mm; weight 11-16 g. The Short-nosed Harvest Mouse is small to medium-sized, with dense, long, and lax pelage characteristic of some species in subgenus Aporodon. Dorsum is dark, with ocherous color along sides; venter is lighter. Hindfoot has characteristic wedge-shaped dusky area that extends to bases of toes. Tail is long relative to head-body length. Skull is small, and rostrum is short and narrow.

Habitat. Cloud forest areas of the Cordillera Central in central Costa Rica and Cordillera Dariensis in north-central Nicaragua. In both areas, Short-nosed Harvest Mice were collected in areas cleared for cultivation of coffee plants, near bases of broadleafed native trees. They also were collected in deep rocky canyons.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. Reproductively active males were collected in June-July, and pregnantfemales were captured in June.

Activity patterns. The Short-nosed Harvest Mouse is presumably nocturnal.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

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

Bibliography. Gardner & Carleton (2009), Goodwin (1943, 1946), Hooper (1952a), Jones & Baldassarre (1982), Jones & Genoways (1970).