Lemniscomys, sometimes known as striped grass mice or zebra mice, is a genus of murine rodents from Africa. Most species are from Sub-Saharan Africa; L. barbarus is the only one found north of the Sahara.Kingdon, J. (1997). The Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals. pp. 212-213. They are generally found in grassy habitats, but where several species overlap in distribution there is a level of habitat differentiation between them.
They are long, of which about half is tail, and weigh . The pelage pattern of the species fall into three main groups: The "true" zebra mice with distinct dark and pale stripes (L. barbarus, L. hoogstraali and L. zebra), the spotted grass mice with more spotty/interrupted stripes (L. bellieri, L. macculus, L. mittendorfi and L. striatus), and the single-striped grass mice with only a single dark stripe along the back (L. griselda, L. linulus, L. rosalia and L. roseveari).Carleton, M D., and Van der Straeten, E. (1997). Morphological differentiation among Subsaharan and north African populations of the Lemniscomys barbarus complex (Rodentia : Muridae). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 110(4): 640-680.Novak, R. M., editor (1999). Walker's Mammals of the World. Vol. 2. 6th edition. pp. 1596-1597.
They are generally considered diurnal, but at least some species can be active during the night. They feed on plants, but sometimes take insects. There are up to 12 young per litter, but 4–5 is more common. The life expectancy is very short, in the wild often only a year, but a captive L. striatus lived for almost 5 years. A more typical captive life expectancy is 2–2½ years.
While most are common and not threatened, L. mittendorfi is restricted to Mount Oku and was considered Vulnerable by the IUCN, though it is currently Least Concern. L. hoogstraali and L. roseveari are both very poorly known, leading to their rating as Data Deficient. Some of the widespread species are regularly kept in captivity, especially L. barbarus, L. striatus and L. zebra.Tofts, Russel. Striped Mouse.
Etymology The etymology of the genus name Lemniscomys derives from the two ancient greek words (), meaning "stripe, ribbon", and (), meaning "mouse, rat", and refers to the pelage pattern.
Species Lemniscomys currently includes 11 species. Until 1997, L. zebra was generally treated as a subspecies of L. barbarus. It is possible L. striatus and L. zebra, as presently defined, actually are species complexes.
Lemniscomys barbarus — Barbary striped grass mouse Lemniscomys bellieri — Bellier's striped grass mouse Lemniscomys griselda — Griselda's striped grass mouse Lemniscomys hoogstraali — Hoogstraal's striped grass mouse Lemniscomys linulus — Senegal one-striped grass mouse Lemniscomys macculus — Buffoon striped grass mouse Lemniscomys mittendorfi — Mittendorf's striped grass mouse Lemniscomys rosalia — single-striped grass mouse Lemniscomys roseveari — Rosevear's striped grass mouse Lemniscomys striatus — typical striped grass mouse Lemniscomys zebra — Heuglin's striped grass mouse
References
External links
(does not include the species Lemniscomys zebra) Lemniscomys zebra entry in "Zipcode Zoo" (with links to entries for other Lemniscomys species and subspecies)