751.

Garlepp’s Mouse

Galenomys garleppii

French: Phyllotis de Garlepp / German: Garlepp-Maus / Spanish: Raton de Garlepp

Other common names: Garlepp's Pericote

Taxonomy. Phyllotis (?) garleppii Thomas, 1898, “Esperanza, a ‘tambo’ in the neighbourhood of Mount Sahama [La Paz], Bolivia ... 4000 metres.”

Galenomys garleppii is the type species of the genus. It is typically viewed as monotypic, but morphological differences have been noted among the few specimens between Bolivian and Peruvian populations that require additional taxonomic assessment. Monotypic.

Distribution. SE Peru (Puno Department) and W Bolivia (La Paz and Oruro departments); occurrence in N Chile needs confirmation.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 105-132 mm, tail 30-45 mm, ear 19 mm, hindfoot 22-25 mm; weight 59-60 g. Garlepp’s Mouse is vole-like and medium-sized, with stout heavy body, short tail, and pale color. Upperparts are buffy, thinly lined with brown;sides are clearer; underparts and legs are sharply defined white; and individual hairs are wholly white on legs, feet, and hands and from chin to anterior part of chest, but basally gray elsewhere. Ears are large and well-haired on outer sides. Forefeet and hindfeet are white above. Plantar surfaces of hindfeet are thinly covered with long white hair, except on tubercles and terminal phalanges. Tail is thickly haired, white above and below; scales are not visible; and terminal tuft is not conspicuous.

Habitat. Altiplano (high plains) in bunch grass habitat at elevations of 3300-4650 m. Peruvian Garlepp’s Mice were caught in heavily grazed pampa, dominated by dwarf grass and prostrate forbs and scattered thorn bushes c.1 m tall.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. In Bolivia, one female Garlepp’s Mouse had four embryos in December, and four young were caught in December; in Peru, a pregnant female was recorded in April and another female with reproductive signals was caught in February. Overall, these scarce data suggest summer reproductive activity.

Activity patterns. No information.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Data Deficient on The [UCN Red List (as G. garleppr). Garlepp’s Mouse is very poorly known in all aspects ofits ecology and behavior. Together with Calaca’s White-tailed Mouse ( Calassomys apicalis), it is both among the more enigmatic living phyllotines.

Bibliography. Anderson (1997), Dunnum, Vargas, Bernal, Pacheco et al. (2008), Hershkovitz (1962), Osgood (1947), Pearson (1957), Salazar-Bravo (2015d), Thomas (1898c, 1916a).