Calomys miurus (Thomas, 1926)

Don E. Wilson, Russell A. Mittermeier & Thomas E. Lacher, Jr, 2017, Cricetidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 7 Rodents II, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 204-535 : 514

698.

Short-tailed Vesper Mouse

Calomys miurus

French: Calomys du Junin / German: Kurzschwanz-Vespermaus / Spanish: Raton laucha de cola corta

Taxonomy. Hesperomys frida miurus Thomas, 1926 , “Yano Mayo,” 8500 ft (= 2591 m), Tarma River, Junin, Peru.

Calomys miurus was in the synonymy of C. sorella until H. Zeballos and colleagues in 2014 elevated it to a valid species. Monotypic.

Distribution. Andes in WC Peru.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 69-98 mm, tail 42-80 mm, ear 13-21-3 mm, hindfoot 11-22 mm; weight 11-1-28 g. Dorsum of the Short-tailed Vesper Mouse is chamois to isabella (pale gray-yellow), with very few dark hairs (absent in most specimens); venteris whitish; ears are honey-yellow to chamois; hindfeet are olive-buff; and tail is bicolored, drab dorsally and olive-buff ventrally.

Habitat. Pluvial montane subtropical forest at elevations up to 4100 m.

Food and Feeding. The Short-tailed Vesper Mouse is omnivorous, with little seasonal dietary differences in presence or absence of arthropods, plant remains, or mycorhizal spores, but significant differences in occurrence of intact seeds.

Breeding. Lactating Short-tailed Vesper Mice were reported in May and August and pregnant females in July-August.

Activity patterns. No information.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Not assessed on The IUCN Red List, where itis still considered a synonymy of C. sorella .

Bibliography. Hershkovitz (1962), Olds (1988), Pacheco et al. (2007), Pearson & Patton (1976), Sahley et al. (2015), Salazar-Bravo (2015¢), Salazar-Bravo et al. (2013), Steppan (1995), Zeballos et al. (2014).

Figures

696. Calaca’s White-tailed Mouse (Calassomys apicalis), 697. Peruvian Vesper Mouse (Calomys sorella), 698. Short-tailed Vesper Mouse (Calomys miurus), 699. Coastal Vesper Mouse (Calomys chinchilico), 700. Arequipa Vesper Mouse (Calomys achaku), 701. Long-tailed Vesper Mouse (Calomys frida), 702. Andean Vesper Mouse (Calomys lepidus), 703. Drylands Vesper Mouse (Calomys musculinus), 704. Hummelinck’s Vesper Mouse (Calomys hummelincki), 705. Delicate Vesper Mouse (Calomys tener), 706. Small Vesper Mouse (Calomys laucha), 707. Rejected Vesper Mouse (Calomys expulsus), 708. Tocantins Vesper Mouse (Calomys tocantinsi), 709. Large Vesper Mouse (Calomys callosus), 710. Crafty Vesper Mouse (Calomys callidus), 711. Bolivian Vesper Mouse (Calomys boliviae), 712. Cordoba Vesper Mouse (Calomys venustus), 713. Cerqueira’s Vesper Mouse (Calomys cerqueirai), 714. Hairy-footed Gerbil Mouse (Eligmodontia hirtipes), 715. Andean Gerbil Mouse (Eligmodontia puerulus), 716. Bolson Gerbil Mouse (Eligmodontia bolsonensis), 717. Lowland Gerbil Mouse (Eligmodontia typus), 718. Dune Gerbil Mouse (Eligmodontia dunaris), 719. Monte Gerbil Mouse (Eligmodontia moreni), 720. Morgan’s Gerbil Mouse (Eligmodontia morgani), 721. Pale Pericote (Graomys domorum), 722. Chaco Pericote (Graomys chacoensis), 723. Otro Cerro Pericote (Graomys edithae), 724. Common Pericote (Graomys griseoflavus)

Distribution. Andes in WC Peru.