Heteromys australis Thomas 1901
Creators: name: Don E. Wilson
name: Thomas E. Lacher, Jr
name: Russell A. Mittermeier
Publisher: name: Lynx Edicions
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Rodentia
Heteromyidae
Heteromys
Heteromys australis

description: 10.
Southern Spiny Pocket Mouse
Heteromys australis
French: Souris-a-ajaboues australe / German: Stdliche Stacheltaschenmaus / Spanish: Raton espinoso meridional
Taxonomy. Heteromys australis Thomas, 1901,
“St. Javier, Lower Cachabi River, N. Ecuador. Alt. 20 m.”
With the exception of H. desmarestianus in the north-western corner of Colombia, the South American spiny pocket mice all belong to the anomalus species group: H. anomalus, H. catopterius, H. oasicus, H. australis, and H. teleus. Only H. australis exists outside of South America in eastern Panama. Three subspecies recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution.
H.a.australisThomas,1901—NWColombiaintoNWEcuador,andWVenezuela(disjunctpopulationinCordilleradeMérida,Tachira).
H.a.consciusGoldman,1913—ExtremeEPanama,perhapsNWColombia(150-800m).
H. a. pacificus O. P. Pearson, 1939 — E Panama (known only at 300-610 m in the area of the type locality: Amagal, 1000 ft, S of Guayabo Bay, Darién, Panama).
Descriptive notes. Head-body mean 128 mm (males) and 120 mm (females); tail mean 140 mm (males) and 136 mm (females), ear mean 16 mm, hindfoot mean 33 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. Male Southern Spiny Pocket Mice are somewhat larger than females. It is a scansorial rodent, medium-sized for the genus, with coarse adult pelage having abundant stiff, flattened spine-like hairs on dorsal and lateral surfaces of body in lowland regions but typically soft in mountains. Upper parts are dark gray to blackish. There is no buffy lateral line, and belly is white. Ears are small relative to body size. Posterior parts of soles of hindfeet are naked. Tail is moderately haired and strongly bicolored (darker on upper part) in most populations but uniformly dark in some, particularly on the Pacific coast of Colombia. Cheekteeth have high crowns, and lower premolar has 3—4 lophids. Chromosomal complement has not been described. Dark-gray or blackish pelage of the Southern Spiny Pocket Mouse distinguishes it from the Trinidad Spiny Pocket Mouse (H. anomalus), the Paraguana Spiny Pocket Mouse (H. oasicus), Gaumer’s Spiny Pocket Mouse (H. gaumeri), and Desmarest’s Spiny Pocket Mouse (H. desmarestianus). It has a wider, more-inflated braincase and shorter, wider rostrum than the Mountain Spiny Pocket Mouse (H. oresterus), is much smaller than Nelson's Spiny Pocket Mouse (H. nelsoni), and has wider interparietal, narrower zygomatic arches, and narrower rostrum than the Ecuadorean Spiny Pocket Mouse (H. teleus).
Habitat. Intact or only moderately disturbed tropical forests from sea level to elevations of ¢.2500 m. The Southern Spiny Pocket Mouse inhabits extensive lowland habitat in wet areas of the Choco of western Colombia, much of the Colombian Andes, and adjacent slopes of the Andes in north-western Ecuador. In eastern Panama, it inhabits forest, dry ridge tops, dry woods, dense bamboo-heliconia (Heliconia, Heliconiaceae) thickets, and in dry grass and thorny bushes. It is often found on or under raised logs and near streams. Disjunct population in the Rio Uribante drainage of the Cordillera de Mérida in western Venezuela is probably restricted to forested montane areas in this agricultural area.
Food and Feeding. There is no specific information for this species, but the Southern Spiny Pocket Mouse probably feeds on seeds, some fruit, grains, succulent vegetation, and insects, transported in external, fur-lined cheek pouches.
Breeding. There is no information available for this species.
Activity patterns. The Southern Spiny Pocket mouse is nocturnal and terrestrial, but it has been observed during daylight hours and is able to climb into small bushes.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. There is no information available for this species.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. The Andean distribution of the Southern Spiny Pocket Mouse has suffered habitat destruction and fragmentation due to logging.
Bibliography. Anderson (1999, 2003), Anderson & Soriano (1999), Anderson et al. (2008), Best (1993a), Rogers & Gonzalez (2010), Williams et al. (1993).
description: Published as part of Don E. Wilson, Thomas E. Lacher, Jr & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2016, Heteromyidae, pp. 170-233 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 6 Lagomorphs and Rodents I, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions on pages 198-199, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6611160