457.

Musser’s Bristly Mouse

Neacomys musseri

French: Néacomys de Musser / German: MusserStachelreisratte / Spanish: Raton erizado de Musser

Other common names: Musser’s Neacomys, Musser’s Spiny Mouse

Taxonomy. Neacomys musseri Patton, M. N. F. da Silva & Malcolm, 2000, “ 72 km NE Paucartambo (by road), at km 152, Departamento de Cusco, Peru. 1460m.” This species is monotypic.

Distribution. W Amazon Basin in E & SE Peru and extreme W Brazil; probably in adjacent Bolivia.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 65-7 mm, tail 68-90 mm, ear 13-15 mm, hindfoot 22-23 mm; weight 11-17 g (mean 13-4 g). Musser’s Bristly Mouse is small, with tail slightly long,slightly bicolored, dark brown above, paler below, and covered with short hairs and visible scales. Skull is apparently unique among species of Neacomys, with derived cephalic arterial system in which squamosal-alisphenoid groove and sphenofrontal foramen are absent but large stapedial foramen persists. Chromosomal complement of individuals from Rio Jurua (Brazil) is 2n = 34, FN = 64 or 68.

Habitat. Lowland and lower montane moist broadleaf forests and upper tropical forests; primary and secondary forest, varzea habitat.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. In Rio Jurua, pregnant subadult Musser’s Bristly Mice with two embryos were collected in rainy season (February). Conversely, in Rio Manu (Peru), only adults were collected in dry season (July), but none were in reproductive condition, and in Rio Purus (Peru), proportion of males and females was almost equal in wet and dry seasons.

Activity patterns. Musser’s Bristly Mouse is nocturnal and terrestrial.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

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

Bibliography. Bardales et al. (2017), Bonvicino, Oliveira & D’Andrea (2008), Musser & Carleton (2005), Pacheco, Cadenillas et al. (2009), Pacheco, Marquez et al. (2011), Patton & Percequillo (2008b), Patton et al. (2000), Ruelas et al. (2016), Solari et al. (2006), Weksler & Bonvicino (2015a).