The montane hylomyscus or montane wood mouse (''Hylomyscus denniae'') 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

Muridae The Muridae, or murids, are either the largest or second-largest family of rodents and of mammals, containing approximately 870 species, including many species of mice, rats, and gerbils found naturally throughout Eurasia, Africa, and Australia. ...

. A long-coated species with brownish-grey upper parts and whitish-grey underparts, it occurs in the uplands of tropical Central Africa where its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

tropical moist montane forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover, u ...

Description

This species is one of the largest wood mice in the

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 ...

, growing to a head-and-body length of about with a tail of . The fur is dense and long, the top of the head and the dorsal surface of the body being dark brownish-grey, each individual hair being grey with a brown tip. The flanks are similar in colour, but with a slight rufous tinge, and the underside of the head and the ventral surface of the body are whitish-grey, each individual hair being grey with a white tip. The whiskers are long and black, the large eyes are surrounded by short black hairs, and there is a rufous patch between the eyes and ears. The upper sides of the legs are white and there are small white tufts of hairs on the digits of the hind feet. The tail is about 140% of the length of head-and-body and is nearly hairless, ringed by small scales and clad in short dark bristles.

Distribution and habitat

The montane wood mouse has a widespread distribution across tropical Central Africa. It is found in a number of separate populations in

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

Burundi Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is located in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa, with a population of over 14 million peop ...

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

, and possibly

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

. It occurs in moist forests, mostly at altitudes between , but down to about in Angola and Zambia. It is restricted to the montane forest zone and does not occur above the

tree line The tree line is the edge of a habitat at which trees are capable of growing and beyond which they are not. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually low ...

in the Afro-montane grassland zone.

Ecology

Its lifestyle is

nocturnal Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...

and

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally (scansorial), but others are exclusively arboreal. The hab ...

. A nest is constructed in a hole in a tree, and its long tail and small hind feet seem to be adaptations for climbing among the branches, vines and foliage. The diet consists of mainly green plant material obtained in trees and on the ground, but also of insects, other invertebrates, seeds and fruit. Breeding takes place during most of the year but most frequently occurs in the dry season and at the start of the wet season, between about July and September. The average litter size is 4.5 offspring, with the largest litters occurring in the dry season. Both females and males become mature when they weigh about .

Status

''H. denniae'' has a very wide range, no particular threats have been recognised and the population is thought to be stable; this is a common species of wood mouse in many parts of its range and the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

has rated its conservation status as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

References

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q306683 Hylomyscus Rodents of Africa Mammals described in 1906 Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas Taxonomy articles created by Polbot