''Chiropodomys'' (or pencil-tailed tree mice) is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Old World rats and mice The Old World rats and mice, part of the subfamily Murinae in the Family (biology), family Muridae, comprise at least 519 species. Members of this subfamily are called murines. In terms of species richness, this subfamily is larger than all mam ...

native to

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

and northeast

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. They are tree-dwelling, very small mice, mostly found in

tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are dense and warm rainforests with high rainfall typically found between 10° north and south of the Equator. They are a subset of the tropical forest biome that occurs roughly within the 28° latitudes (in the torrid zo ...

. In total six extant species have been identified, but only one of these, '' Chiropodomys gliroides'', is common and widely distributed, and has been extensively studied.

Species

Genus ''Chiropodomys'' — pencil-tailed tree mice: * Palawan pencil-tailed tree mouse, ''Chiropodomys calamianensis'' Taylor, 1934,

Palawan Palawan (, ), officially the Province of Palawan (; ), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of . The capital and largest c ...

and neighboring islands * Indomalayan pencil-tailed tree mouse, ''Chiropodomys gliroides'' Blyth, 1856, northeast

, southeastern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, mainland Southeast Asia,

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

* Koopman's pencil-tailed tree mouse, ''Chiropodomys karlkoopmani'' Musser, 1979,

Mentawai Islands Mentawai may refer to: * Mentawai Islands, Indonesia ** Mentawai Strait ** Mentawai people, ethnic group of Indonesia ** Mentawai language, their Austronesian language {{dab Language and nationality disambiguation pages ...

* Large pencil-tailed tree mouse, ''Chiropodomys major'' Thomas, 1893,

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

* Gray-bellied pencil-tailed tree mouse, ''Chiropodomys muroides'' Medway, 1965, Borneo * Small pencil-tailed tree mouse, ''Chiropodomys pusillus'' Thomas, 1893, Borneo * †''

Chiropodomys maximus ''Chiropodomys'' (or pencil-tailed tree mice) is a genus of Old World rats and mice native to Southeast Asia and northeast India. They are tree-dwelling, very small mice, mostly found in tropical rainforest. In total six extant species have been ...

'',

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

* †'' Chiropodomys primitivus'', southern

Description

Species of ''Chiropodomys'' have a body length of 7 to 12 cm, plus a tail of 9 to 17 cm. They are generally gray or brown on the back and white underneath. The tail is only sparsely covered with hair, but has somewhat more at the end, giving the appearance of a

pencil A pencil () is a writing or drawing implement with a solid pigment core in a protective casing that reduces the risk of core breakage and keeps it from marking the user's hand. Pencils create marks by physical abrasion, leaving a trail of ...

, thus the genus name. ''Chiropodomys gliroides'' is particularly common in

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

forest. It is active at night, sleeps during the day in a nest in the bamboo, padded with leaves. It eats exclusively plants. Previously, it was thought that ''Chiropodomys'' were closely related to the genus '' Hapalomys'' (marmoset rats), with both forming a clade with ''

Micromys ''Micromys'' is a genus of small rodents in the subfamily Murinae. The genus contains two living species: the widespread Eurasian harvest mouse (''Micromys minutus'') of much of Europe and Asia; and the more restricted Indochinese harvest mouse ( ...

'' and '' Vandeleuria''; however, more recent phylogenetic studies support them being closely allied with the Australasian mice and rats of the tribe Hydromyini, either as a distinct tribe of their own or as a group within Hydromyini.

References

* Ronald M. Nowak: ''Walker's Mammals of the World''. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999 * Wells K, Pfeiffer M, Lakim MB & Linsenmair KE (2004) "Arboreal spacing patterns of the Large pencil-tailed tree mouse ''Chiropodomys major'' in a rainforest in Sabah, Malaysia." ''Ecotropica'' 10 : 15-22 * Wells K, Pfeiffer M, Lakim MB & Linsenmair KE (2004) "Use of arboreal and terrestrial space by a small mammal community in a tropical rain forest in Borneo, Malaysia." ''Journal of Biogeography'' 31 : 641-652. {{Taxonbar, from=Q579868 Chiropodomys Fauna of Southeast Asia Taxa named by Wilhelm Peters