Dryomys laniger Felten & Storch 1968
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
Gliridae
Dryomys
Dryomys laniger

description: 25.
Woolly Forest Dormouse
Dryomys laniger
French: Lérotin laineux / German: Felsenschlafer / Spanish: Liron lanudo
Other common names: Woolly Dormouse
Taxonomy. Dryomys laniger Felten & Storch, 1968,
Ciglikara, 2000 m, Bey Mountains, Antalya, Turkey.
Support for recognition of D. laniger has been amplified by morphological analyses by H. Felten and colleagues in 1973, M. E. Holden in 1996, E. Kivan¢ and colleagues in 1997, and N. Yigit and colleagues in 2003 and 2011, ecological details and records of sympatry by F. Spitzenberger in 1976, karyological differences reported by Kivan¢ and colleagues in 1997, and molecular analyses by M. G. Filippucci and colleagues in 1996, C. Montgelard and colleagues in 2003, and Yigit and colleagues in 2011. Relationships among the three currently recognized species of Dryomys have not been comprehensively studied. Only gene sequences of D. nitedula and D. laniger have been analyzed in a phylogenetic context; whether or not these two species are each other’s closest relatives has yet to be determined. Montgelard and colleagues in 2003 estimated that D. nitedula and D. laniger diverged c.17 million years ago during the early Miocene based on mtDNA and nDNA analyses, corroborating earlier findings of high levels of genetic differentiation between the two species byFilippucci and colleagues in 1996. Montgelard and colleagues estimated a more recent divergence time for extant species of Eliomys; even if actual divergence times are several milion years younger due to calibration error, the two extant Dryomys species sampled appear to have diverged c.10 million years earlier than extant species of Eliomys. Monotypic.
Distribution. SW, S & E Turkey (W Taurus Mts and E Anatolia).
Descriptive notes. Head-body 83-96 mm, tail 48-76 mm, ear 11:3-17-4 mm, hindfoot 15-1-19 mm; weight 17-32 g. No sexual dimorphism reported. The Woolly Forest Dormouse is the smallest in the genus, with relatively shorter tail and no conspicuous eye mask. Adult dorsal pelage color is tawny or brownish ash-gray. Dorsal pelage texture is dense and soft. Ventral pelage is predominantly white or cream, with dark gray bases of ventral fur hairs barely visible; dorsal pelage is clearly delineated from ventral pelage. Head color matches that of dorsal pelage; face becomes paler toward rostrum, and cheeks are white. Narrow, inconspicuous dark brown rings encircle eyes. Ears are brown, somewhat long, and rounded; post-auricular patches are not present. Hindfeet are white and short compared with other members of this genus, c.19% of head-body length. Tail is relatively short, ¢.76% of head—body length. Dorsal tail color generally matches that of dorsal pelage, and ventral tail color is markedly paler. White hairs are scattered throughouttail fur, and tail is conspicuously laterally fringed and tipped in white. Skull is small and delicately built with narrow rostrum. Highly inflated auditory bullae are proportionately comparable to those of Niethammer’s Forest Dormouse (D. niethammeri). Condylobasal length is 22-26-7 mm, zygomatic breadth is 13-3-15-5 mm, and upper tooth row length is 3-2-3-8 mm. External and cranial measurements listed are from pooled Turkish samples. Chromosome number is 2n = 46. Females have four pairs of nipples (I pectoral + 1 abdominal + 2 inguinal = 8).
Habitat. Rocky situations with moderate to sparse vegetation at elevations of 1620-2950 m; individuals have often been captured above timberline. Woolly Forest Dormice are rock dwellers and have been captured in crevices of weathering limestone, small caves, crevices and cavities under boulders and rock outcrops, and stony fields and scree. In south-western Anatolia, vegetation near sites of capture is dominated by conifers such as cedar (Cedrus libani), juniper (Juniperus excelsa, J. foetidissima, and Joxycedrus), cypress (Cupressus sempervirens), or fir (Abies cilicica), and oak (Quercus coccifera); vegetation in central and eastern Anatolia localities is sparse.
Food and Feeding. Woolly Forest Dormice are omnivorous, predominantly insectivorous. Exams of stomach contents from 19 individuals contained only arthropods in 13 stomachs, and a mixture of arthropods and olive daphne (Daphne oleoides, Thymelacaceae) berries in six stomachs. Captive individuals ate cat chow supplemented with nuts, sunflower seeds, fresh apple, and fresh pear.
Breeding. Litter sizes of Woolly Forest Dormice are 3-5 young. There are records of pregnant females captured throughout the month of June through early July; one female was carrying three large embryos, measuring 14-7 x 9-1 mm. Lactating females were collected in late June through mid-August. Juveniles were captured during the first one-half of August. One litter is produced per year and some females may remain reproductively inactive during the breeding season. In mid-June, males with enlarged testes, measuring 12 x 5-2 mm to 11-1 x 5-5 mm, were captured;testes had regressed and measured 6-4-6-6 mm long by mid-August.
Activity patterns. Woolly Forest Dormice are nocturnal and have been reported to hibernate. M. K. Gir and colleagues in 2013 studied five wild caught individuals in a controlled laboratory setting that simulated natural conditions in terms of photoperiod and seasonal temperatures. Captive individuals were provided with unlimited food and water throughout the study. They gained at least 47% of their body mass in c.1 month between late September and late October, after which they entered hibernation; at least 28% of their body mass was lost during hibernation. Gur and colleagues concluded that Woolly Forest Dormice relied mostly on fat reserves during hibernation because individuals did not consume measurable amounts of food during hibernation. At 18°C in a controlled light-dark cycle environment, all individuals exhibited circadian body temperature rhythmicity, with body temperature highest at night when lights were turned off, as is characteristic of nocturnal mammals; all individuals also entered daily torpor, although frequency varied among individuals. All individuals entered hibernation within 1-3 days after ambient temperature was lowered to 5°C and lights were kept continuously off; hibernation consisted of a sequence of multiday bouts of torpor interrupted by euthermic intervals. Hibernation in captive individuals lasted from late October through mid-April.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. Woolly Forest Dormice are rupicolous and solitary. They are highly adapted to navigating cervices and surfaces of rock. In addition to their gray color and relatively long vibrissae, they have enlarged palmar pads arranged in a circle to provide suction, enlarged pads on digits, and ventral surfaces of digits are ridged as is found in certain species of house geckos (Hemidactylus); all of these features aid in adhesion and agile locomotion over smooth, steep rock surfaces.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Data Deficient on The IUCN Red List. The Woolly Forest Dormouse has a fragmented distribution due to patchy occurrence ofsuitable habitat in high-elevation rocky situations;little information is known about population trends and abundance. No major conservation threats have been identified, although localized threats include rock mining activities and dam construction.
Bibliography. Felten & Storch (1968), Felten et al. (1973), Filippucci et al. (1996), Gur et al. (2013), Holden (19964), Kivang et al. (1997), KryStufek & Vohralik (2005), KryStufek & Yigit (2008), Montgelard et al. (2003), Mursaloglu (1973), Obuch (2001), Spitzenberger (1976), Spitzenberger & Eberl-Rothe (1974), Yigit, Colak, Colak, Ozkan & Ozkurt (2003), Yigit, Colak, Colak, Ozliik etal. (2011).
description: Published as part of Don E. Wilson, Thomas E. Lacher, Jr & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2016, Gliridae, pp. 838-889 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 6 Lagomorphs and Rodents I, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions on page 859, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6604339