The red climbing mouse (''Vernaya fulva''), also known as Vernay's climbing mouse, 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.
...
. It is named after explorer and antiques dealer,
Arthur Vernay, who sponsored the expedition during which the animal was first discovered. It is the only living species in the genus ''
Vernaya'', and has no subspecies.
Distribution
Red climbing mice found in southern
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 ...
, in the provinces of
Yunnan
Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...
,
Gansu
Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...
,
Sichuan
Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...
, and
Shaanxi
Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to t ...
and in northern
Myanmar
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...
. It inhabits mountainous terrain at elevations between . Four extinct species of the genus ''Vernaya'' are also known, all discovered in
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...
deposits from southern China, alongside fossils of ''V. fulva''.
Description
Only a few specimens of red climbing mice have been recorded by scientists. The specimens indicate that is a relatively small mouse, with a head-body length of between . The fur has been described as soft and fluffy and merges from a brownish-orange colour along the middle of the black to a rich orange on the flanks, neck, shoulders, and the sides of the face. The underparts are pale buff in colour, while the ears are brown. The tail is far longer than the body, ranging from in length, and is dark brown in colour and almost naked, with no visible tuft. The feet have orange fur on the upper surface, and paler beneath; all the toes have sharp claws, except for the first digit of the forepaws, which instead bear flattened nails.
[
Judging from the locations where specimens have been captured, the animal inhabits dense vegetation, such as low shrubbery and ]bracken
Bracken (''Pteridium'') is a genus of large, coarse ferns in the family (biology), family Dennstaedtiaceae. Ferns (Pteridophyta) are vascular plants that undergo alternation of generations, having both large plants that produce spores and small ...
.[
]
References
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{{Taxonbar, from=Q1766393
Vernaya
Mammals described in 1927
Taxa named by Glover Morrill Allen
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot