Alston's brown mouse, also called Alston's singing mouse, short-tailed singing mouse, or singing mouse (''Scotinomys teguina''), is a species of

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...

in the family

Cricetidae The Cricetidae are a family of rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. It includes true hamsters, voles, lemmings, muskrats, and New World rats and mice. At over 870 species, it is either the largest or second-largest family ...

. It is found in

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

, from

Chiapas Chiapas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas, is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises Municipalities of Chiapas, 124 municipalities and its capital and large ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, to western

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

. This species produces vocalizations in both the sonic and

ultrasonic Ultrasound is sound with frequencies greater than 20 kilohertz. This frequency is the approximate upper audible limit of human hearing in healthy young adults. The physical principles of acoustic waves apply to any frequency range, includi ...

range that are thought to be an important component of its communication behavior.Reid, Fiona A. (1997): "''A field guide to the mammals of central america and southeast mexico''. Oxford University Press, New York

Distribution and habitat

''S. teguina'' is exclusively found in the highland forests of southern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

and throughout

, from

, Mexico to western

, at elevations between 1100 and 2950 meters.Hooper, Emmet T., and Carleton Michael D. (1976): ''Reproduction, growth and development in two contiguously allopatric rodent species, genus Scotinomys''. Miscellaneous Publications Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, 665:1–31.

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

, and

. This rodent prefers wet habitats with

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...

climates, and is commonly observed in grassy clearings and rocky areas at the forest edge. ''S. teguina'' is diurnal in the wild. In laboratory settings, it is predominantly active in the morning, with decreasing activity in the afternoon to evening hours.

Description

''S. teguina'' is small (10–13 grams), with a dark coat, and a short tail. Its underparts are dark gray-brown to orange-brown. The tail is blackish and lightly haired and its feet are black. It also emits a noticeably strong, musky odor.

Behavior

''S. teguina'' is predominantly

insectivorous A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant which eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores we ...

, feeding on beetles and other small insects. Additionally, seeds and fruits make up a small portion of its diet. ''S. teguina'' is often recognized for its unique vocalization behavior. Both males and females produce vocalizations which are characterized by singing bouts containing both

sonic Sonic or Sonics may refer to: Companies *Sonic Drive-In, an American drive-in, fast-food restaurant chain * Sonic (ISP), an Internet provider CLEC, serving more than 100 California communities * Sonic Foundry, a computer software company whic ...

and

elements. Male songs tend to be longer than females, but seem to share similar spectral characteristics. Although ultrasonic vocalizations have been demonstrated in numerous rodent species, few display vocalizing bouts as continuous and stereotyped as ''S. teguina''. Because of their length and complexity, these vocalizations have been described as "song". When singing, the mouse rears on its hind legs and extends its neck, facing upward while producing a stereotypical call of up to 10 seconds. The song is loud, with components audible to humans typically occurring towards the end of the call. The exact function of the singing behavior is not yet well understood, but it is believed to play an important role in social communication. For this reason, a growing interest has emerged in studying ''S. teguina'' in laboratory settings as a potential model for

animal language Animal languages are forms of animal communication, communication between animals that show similarities to human language. Animals communicate through a variety of signs, such as sounds and movements. Sign language, Signing among animals may be c ...

in mammalian species. Stereotypical calls may provide an adaptive mechanism for the localization of conspecifics, and vocalizations in the ultrasonic range are typically inaudible to most predators. Different brain systems are responsible for the melody of the songs and the coordination of duets with another mouse. The functional role of ''

FOXP2 Forkhead box protein P2 (FOXP2) is a protein that, in humans, is encoded by the ''FOXP2'' gene. FOXP2 is a member of the forkhead box family of transcription factors, proteins that Regulation of gene expression, regulate gene expression by DNA- ...

'' expression in ''S. teguina'' and other vocalizing rodent species has been examined.Campbell P. et al (2009): ''Conservation and diversity of foxp2 expression in muroid rodents: functional implications''. The journal of Comparative Neurology 512:84–100. Male Alston's singing mice sing to attract mates and to warn off other males of their species from their territories. They react to songs of the related, larger, competing species, '' S. xerampelinus'' by silently retreating. ''S. teguina'' uses olfactory cues to convey information about sex, reproductive status, and

conspecifics Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a biochemical variation to occur in a particular species. Biochemist Linus Pauling stated that "Biological specificity is the set of characteristics of living organism ...

. Much of this information in transmitted through secretions of the midventral

sebaceous gland A sebaceous gland or oil gland is a microscopic exocrine gland in the skin that opens into a hair follicle to secrete an oily or waxy matter, called sebum, which lubricates the hair and skin of mammals. In humans, sebaceous glands occur in ...

.Fernández-Vargas M., Tang-Martínez Z. and Phelps S. M. (2008): ''Olfactory responses of neotropical short-tailed singing mice, scotinomys teguina, to odors of the mid-ventral sebaceous gland: discrimination of conspecifics, gender and female reproductive condition''. Journal of Chemical Ecology 34:429–437

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1767506 Scotinomys Rodents of Central America Mammals described in 1877 Articles containing video clips Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Edward Richard Alston Rodents of Mexico Vertebrates of Guatemala Vertebrates of El Salvador Vertebrates of Honduras Vertebrates of Nicaragua Vertebrates of Costa Rica Vertebrates of Panama