The cerrado climbing mouse or long-tailed rhipidomys (''Rhipidomys macrurus'') is an

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, but others are exclusively arboreal. The habitats pose num ...

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 lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are roden ...

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

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 almost 608 species, it is the second-largest family of mammals, a ...

from

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

. It is found in

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

secondary Secondary may refer to: Science and nature * Secondary emission, of particles ** Secondary electrons, electrons generated as ionization products * The secondary winding, or the electrical or electronic circuit connected to the secondary winding i ...

forests of the

cerrado The ''Cerrado'' (, ) is a vast ecoregion of tropical savanna in eastern Brazil, particularly in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Minas Gerais, and the Federal District. The core areas of the Cerrado biome are ...

and

caatinga Caatinga (, ) is a type of semi-arid tropical vegetation, and an ecoregion characterized by this vegetation in interior northeastern Brazil. The name "Caatinga" is a Tupi word meaning "white forest" or "white vegetation" (''caa'' = forest, v ...

in central and eastern

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, and has also been seen in the

Atlantic Forest The Atlantic Forest ( pt, Mata Atlântica) is a South American forest that extends along the Atlantic coast of Brazil from Rio Grande do Norte state in the northeast to Rio Grande do Sul state in the south and inland as far as Paraguay and t ...

. Its

karyotype A karyotype is the general appearance of the complete set of metaphase chromosomes in the cells of a species or in an individual organism, mainly including their sizes, numbers, and shapes. Karyotyping is the process by which a karyotype is disce ...

is 2n = 44, FN = 48-52. They are

nocturnal Nocturnality is an ethology, animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have ...

animals and can be found in both

tree canopies In biology, the canopy is the aboveground portion of a plant cropping or crop, formed by the collection of individual plant crowns. In forest ecology, canopy also refers to the upper layer or habitat zone, formed by mature tree crowns an ...

and on the ground. This species should also not be confused with the cerrado mouse, ''

Thalpomys cerradensis The cerrado mouse (''Thalpomys cerradensis'') is a rodent species from South America. It is found in the cerrado of Brazil. Description The cerrado mouse has a head-and-body length of more than and is larger than the only other species in the g ...

'', the cerrado red-nosed mouse, ''

Wiedomys cerradensis ''Wiedomys'' is a genus of South American rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. Abou ...

'', or the cerrado grass mouse, '' Akodon serrensis''. The

Atlantic Forest climbing mouse The Atlantic Forest climbing mouse (''Rhipidomys mastacalis'') is an arboreal rodent species in the family Cricetidae from South America. It is found in the Atlantic Forest of southeastern Brazil at elevations from sea level to 1500 m. Its ...

(''Rhipidomys mastacalis'') has sometimes been similarly referred to as the "long-tailed climbing mouse". Rodents of genus ''

Vandeleuria ''Vandeleuria'' is a small genus of rodent from Asia with only three species. It is the only member of the tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide u ...

'' are also commonly known as long-tailed climbing mice.Musser, G. G. and M. D. Carleton. 2005. Superfamily Muroidea. pp. 894–1531 ''in'' Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.

Morphology

Cerrado climbing mice are medium-sized mice with a head-and-body length of with dull reddish gray-brown dorsal pelage. The underparts are white or pale cream, typically with gray bases to the hairs. The tail is slightly longer than head-and-body length, has a tuft of long hairs at the tip and is medium to dark reddish brown. The medium brown ears are large. The hindfeet are robust and moderately long; there is a sometimes ill-defined dark patch in the centre of the upper surface and the surrounding area is golden brown.

Ecology

This mouse is found throughout most of the cerrado in gallery forest and semi-deciduous woodland. It is nocturnal and mainly arboreal, but also descends to the ground on occasion. It has been known to enter houses. Cerrado climbing mice are

seed eater Seed predation, often referred to as granivory, is a type of plant-animal interaction in which granivores (seed predators) feed on the seeds of plants as a main or exclusive food source,Hulme, P.E. and Benkman, C.W. (2002) "Granivory", pp. 13 ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1764469 Mammals of Brazil Rhipidomys Mammals described in 1855 Fauna of the Cerrado Fauna of the Caatinga