Mount Tapulao forest mouse
The Mount Tapulao forest mouse (Apomys brownorum) is a forest mouse endemic to the Mount Tapulao area in the Philippines.[1] It is named after the American zoologist Barbara Elaine Russell Brown.[2]
| Mount Tapulao forest mouse | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Muridae |
| Genus: | Apomys |
| Species: | A. brownorum |
| Binomial name | |
| Apomys brownorum | |
 | |
Anatomy and physiology
The mouse is the smallest species in its genus, measuring in total "230-255 mm; tail: 107-116 mm; hind foot: 31-35 mm; ear: 21 - 22 mm" and weighing 60-84 grams.[3] On its dorsal side, the mouse has long, dense, soft, dark brown fur, with dark gray ventral fur turning a lighter gray-brown at the tips. Its tail is bicolored, "dark grayish-brown dorsally and nearly white ventrally."[3]
Ecology
The Mount Tapulaou forest mouse lives in old growth cloud forests and regenerating secondary forests at a height of 2024 m, with a lower limit somewhere between 1690 m and 2024 m. It is unknown how extensive chromium mining of the habitat affects the species.[3]
Behavior
The mouse eats seeds and invertebrates such as earthworms. It is nocturnal.[3]
References
- Heaney, L.R.; Balete, D.S.; Veluz, M.J.; Steppan, S.J.; Esseltyn, J.A.; Pfeiffer, A.W.; Rickart, E.A. (2014). "Two new species of Philippine forest mice (Apomys, Muridae, Rodentia) from Lubang and Luzon Islands, with a redescription of Apomys sacobianus Johnson, 1962". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 126 (4): 395–413. doi:10.2988/0006-324X-126.4.395. S2CID 49347286.
- Megan, Graydon. "Barbara Brown, Field Museum research assistant on expeditions to far-flung locales, dies". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
- lheaney (2011-07-21). "Apomys brownorum". Field Museum. Retrieved 2019-11-09.