Chiropodomys
| Pencil-tailed tree mice Temporal range: Late Pliocene to Holocene, 2.588–0 Ma |
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|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Muridae |
| Subfamily: | Murinae |
| Genus: |
Chiropodomys Peters, 1868 |
| species | |
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Chiropodomys calamianensis |
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| Synonyms | |
|
Insulaemus Taylor, 1934 |
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Chiropodomys calamianensis
Chiropodomys gliroides
Chiropodomys karlkoopmani
Chiropodomys major
Chiropodomys muroides
Chiropodomys pusillus †Chiropodomys maximus
†Chiropodomys primitivus
Insulaemus Taylor, 1934
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 identified, but only one of these, Chiropodomys gliroides, is common and widely distributed, and has been extensively studied.
Genus Chiropodomys — pencil-tailed tree mice:
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, thus the genus name.
Chiropodomys gliroides is particularly common in bamboo forest. It is active at night, sleeps during the day in a nest in the bamboo, padded with leaves. It eats exclusively plants.
A close connection between Chiropodomys and the genus Hapalomys (marmoset rats) is accepted. The Haeromys (pygmy tree mice) are also thought to be closely related. On the other hand, an earlier-posited connection with Crateromys (cloudrunners) is no longer considered probable.
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