Asian tree mouse

▪ rodent

      any of three species of small rodents found only in a few tropical forests (tropical rainforest) of India and continental Southeast Asia.

      The Malabar (Malabar Coast) spiny tree mouse (Platacanthomys lasiurus) lives only in the old-growth rainforests of southwestern India. Nocturnal and arboreal, it builds nests in tree cavities and eats fruits and nuts. The animal is named for its flat, grooved spines and bristles, which are tipped with white and protrude from a dark brown coat of thin, soft underfur. The underside is less spiny and is pale in colour. Near the base of the tail, the hairs are short, but they become progressively longer toward the bushy white tip, which makes the tail resemble a bottlebrush. This slender rodent measures about 12 to 14 cm (4.5 to 5.5 inches), not including the slightly shorter tail. The feet end in sharp, curved claws except for the short first toe, which bears a nail. The prominent ears are nearly bald and the whiskers extremely long.

      The other two Asian tree mice are called blind tree mice (genus Typhlomys): the Chinese blind tree mouse (T. cinereus) and the Chapa blind tree mouse (T. chapensis). They are probably nocturnal and arboreal, inhabiting mountain forests of southern China and northern Vietnam, respectively. Aside from their physical traits, little is known of these rodents. They resemble the Malabar mouse in body form, but their fur is spineless, and their tails are not nearly as bushy. The feet bear a claw instead of a nail on the first hind toe. The blind tree mice are smaller, with a body length of 7 to 10 cm, but the tail is longer than the head and body (9 to 14 cm). The short, soft, dense fur is dark gray with lighter underparts.

      Originally considered to be dormice (dormouse) (family Myoxidae), Asian tree mice are now classified as the only members of subfamily Platacanthomyinae of the “true” mouse and rat family ( Muridae). Their closest living relatives are unknown, but fossils representing extinct species of both Asian tree mouse genera have been found in sediments from the Late Miocene Epoch (11.2 million to 5.3 million years ago) in southern China. Fossils of a related genus (Neocometes) from Europe and Asia are even older; thus, the living species are remnants of a past Eurasian distribution.

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