| Striped grass mouse Temporal range: LatePliocene to Recent | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Barbary striped grass mouse (Lemniscomys barbarus) | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Muridae |
| Tribe: | Arvicanthini |
| Genus: | Lemniscomys Trouessart, 1881 |
| Type species | |
| Mus barbarus | |
| Species | |
11, seetext | |
Lemniscomys, sometimes known asstriped grass mice orzebra mice, is agenus ofmurine rodents from Africa. Most species are fromSub-Saharan Africa;L. barbarus is the only one found north of theSahara.[1] They are generally found ingrassy habitats, but where several species overlap in distribution there is a level ofhabitat differentiation between them.[1]
They are 18.5–29 cm (7.3–11.4 in) long, of which about half is tail, and weigh 18–70 g (0.63–2.47 oz).[1] 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 andL. zebra), the spotted grass mice with more spotty/interrupted stripes (L. bellieri,L. macculus,L. mittendorfi andL. striatus), and the single-striped grass mice with only a single dark stripe along the back (L. griselda,L. linulus,L. rosalia andL. roseveari).[2][3]
They are generally considereddiurnal, but at least some species can be active during the night.[3] They feed on plants, but sometimes take insects.[1] There are up to 12 young per litter, but 4–5 is more common.[3] The life expectancy is very short, in the wild often only a year, but a captiveL. striatus lived for almost 5 years.[3] A more typical captive life expectancy is 2–2½ years.[4]
While most are common and not threatened,L. mittendorfi is restricted toMount Oku and consideredVulnerable by theIUCN.[5]L. hoogstraali andL. roseveari are both very poorly known, leading to their rating asData Deficient.[6][7] Some of the widespread species are regularly kept in captivity, especiallyL. barbarus,L. striatus andL. zebra.[4]
The etymology of the genus nameLemniscomys derives from the twoancient greek wordsλημνίσκος (lēmnískos), meaning "stripe, ribbon", andμῦς (mûs), meaning "mouse, rat",[8][9] and refers to the pelage pattern.
Lemniscomys currently includes 11 species.[10] Until 1997,L. zebra was generally treated as asubspecies ofL. barbarus.[2] It is possibleL. striatus andL. zebra, as presently defined, actually arespecies complexes.[11][12]
