586.

Lesser Wood Mouse

Hylomyscus parvus

French: Petit Hylomysque / German: Kleine Afrikawaldmaus / Spanish: Raton de bosque menor

Other common names: Lesser Hylomyscus, Little Wood Mouse

Taxonomy. Hylomyscus parvus Brosset, Dubost & Heim de Balsac, 1965,

“Bélinga (800 m),” Gabon.

This species is monotypic.

Distribution. Known from scattered localities in C Africa (W & S Cameroon, SW Central African Republic, Gabon, N Republic of the Congo, and N DR Congo).

Descriptive notes. Head-body 56-77 mm, tail 87-124 mm, ear 13-15 mm, hindfoot 14-19 mm; weight 10-16 g. Fur of the Lesser Wood Mouse is reddish brown to grayish brown above and grayish white below. Tail is very long (c.140% of head-body length), pale and sparsely covered with very short pale hair. Eyes have dark rings. Females have three pairs of nipples. Incisors are orthodont orslightly proodont. Chromosomal complement is 2n = 46 and FN = 70.

Habitat. Primary and secondary forest and abandoned fields.

Food and Feeding. In Central African Republic, diet includes fruit and insects. In captivity, Lesser Wood Mice ate fruit pulp and seeds.

Breeding. Pregnant Lesser Wood Mice have 2-3 embryos.

Activity patterns. Lesser Wood Mice are presumably arboreal and nocturnal.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List.

Bibliography. Brosset et al. (1965), Dubost (1968), Dudu et al. (1989), Happold (2013a), Monadjem et al. (2015), Robbins et al. (1980).