359.

Araucaria Forest Tree Mouse

Juliomys ximenezi

French: Juliomys de Christoff / German: Araukarien-Juliomaus / Spanish: Raton arboricola de Araucaria

Other common names: Araucaria Forest Juliomys

Taxonomy. Juliomys ximenezi Christoff et al., 2016, Aparados da Serra National Park, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

This species is monotypic.

Distribution. Known only from the type locality in S Brazil.

Descriptive notes. Head—body 80-92 mm, tail 101-113 mm, ear 15-16 mm, hindfoot 19-5-22 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. The Araucaria Forest Tree Mouse is a small species of Juliomys, with orange nose, soft and dense orangish pelage, slightly orange rostrum, and orange lateral line sharply demarcating dorsal and ventral colors; venter is cream-white. Ears are sparsely covered by dichromatic hairs. Mystacial vibrissae are dark at bases, becoming lighter toward tips. Tail long, c.150% of head-body length, and hirsute with terminal brush. Chromosomal complement 2n = 32, FN = 48.

Habitat. Mixed Ombrophilous Forest dominated by Araucaria angustifolia, ( Araucariaceae) at elevations of ¢.800 m.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. The Araucaria Forest Tree Mouse is arboreal.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Not assessed on The IUCN Red List. The Araucaria Forest Tree Mouse is one of the two sigmodontines endemic to the Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil)— the other one is the Araucarian Grass Mouse ( Deltamys araucaria); it was described from four specimens collected in Aparados da Serra National Park, a conservation unit focused to preserve Araucaria Forest.

Bibliography. Christoff, Vieira et al. (2016), Paresque et al. (2009), Sarti (2016).