Chiropodomys gliroides (Blyth 1856)

[Mus] gliroides Blyth 1856, J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, 24: 721.

Type Locality: NW India (Assam), Khasi Hills, Cherrapunji.

Vernacular Names: Indomalayan Pencil-tailed Tree Mouse.

Synonyms: Chiropodomys ana Thomas and Wroughton 1909; Chiropodomys jingdongensis Wu and Deng 1984; Chiropodomys niadis Miller 1903; Chiropodomys peguensis (Blyth 1859); Chiropodomys penicillatus Peters 1868 .

Distribution: Documented from W China (S Guangxi andYunnan; Wang, 2003, and Zhang et al., 1997), NE India (Assam; Agrawal, 2000), Burma, Thailand (J. T. Marshall, Jr. 1977 a; Robinson et al., 1995), Laos (Smith et al., In Press), Vietnam (Dang et al., 1994; Lunde et al., 2003 b), Malay Peninsula (Medway, 1969), S Sumatra, Pulau Nias, Kepulauan Tujuh, Kepulauan Natuna, Java, and Bali; range primarily extracted from Corbet and Hill (1992), Musser (1979), and Wu and Deng (1984); probably also occurs on other small islands of the Sunda Shelf and in Cambodia.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Variation among some samples in certain morphological features significantly correlated with geography both on mainland Indochina and islands of the Sunda Shelf (Musser, 1979). One example of that variation is in the cranial traits distinguishing populations south of the Isthmus of Kra (10E N latitude) from those occurring to the north. Another is reflected in Wu and Deng's (1984) description of C. jingdongensis, based on a small sample from W Yunnan, in which a few cranial dimensions average slightly larger than most samples of C. gliroides from elsewhere in its range, but are not otherwise significantly different (Corbet and Hill, 1992, and our study of specimens; however, Zheng et al. [1997] and Wang [2003] continued to recognize jingdongensis as a separate species). Chromosomal data reported by Yong (1973, 1983), J. T. Marshall, Jr. (1977 a), and Tsuchiya et al. (1979). Dang et al. (1994) mapped localities in C Vietnam but the species has also been collected farther north in Ha Tinh Province and near the Chinese Border in Ha Giang Province (Lunde et al., 2003 b; specimens in AMNH and IEBR).