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Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Craniata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Cladus: Synapsida
Cladus: Eupelycosauria
Cladus: Sphenacodontia
Cladus: Sphenacodontoidea
OrdoTherapsida
Cladus: Theriodontia
Subordo: Cynodontia
Cladus: Mammaliaformes
Classis: Mammalia
Subclassis: Trechnotheria
Infraclassis: Zatheria
Supercohort: Theria
Cohort: Eutheria
Cohort: Placentalia
Cladus: Boreoeutheria
Superordo: Euarchontoglires
Ordo: Rodentia
Subordo: Myomorpha
Superfamilia: Muroidea

Familia: Muridae
Subfamilia: Murinae
Genus: Lemniscomys
Species: L. barbarus – L. bellieri – L. griselda – L. hoogstraali – L. linulus – L. macculus – L. mittendorfi – L. rosalia – L. roseveari – L. striatus – L. zebra
Name

Lemniscomys Trouessart, 1881

Type species: Mus barbarus Linnaeus, 1766
References

Lemniscomys in Mammal Species of the World.
Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn M. (Editors) 2005. Mammal Species of the World – A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. Third edition. ISBN 0-8018-8221-4.

Vernacular names
español: Ratones listados

Lemniscomys, sometimes known as striped grass mice or zebra mice, is a genus of murine rodents from Africa. Most species are from Sub-Saharan Africa; L. barbarus is the only found north of the Sahara.[1] They are generally found in grassy habitats, but where several species overlap in distribution there is a level of habitat 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 and L. zebra), the spotted grass mice with more spotty/interrupted stripes (L. bellieri, L. macculus, L. mittendorfi and L. striatus), and the single-striped grass mice with only a single dark stripe along the back (L. griselda, L. linulus, L. rosalia and L. roseveari).[2][3]

They are generally considered diurnal, 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 average life expectancy is very short, in the wild often only a year, but a captive L. 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 to Mount Oku and considered Vulnerable by the IUCN.[5] L. hoogstraali and L. roseveari are both very poorly known, leading to their rating as Data Deficient.[6][7] Some of the widespread species are regularly kept in captivity, especially L. barbarus, L. striatus and L. zebra.[4]
Systematics

The etymology of the genus name Lemniscomys derives from the two ancient greek words λημνίσκος (lēmnískos), meaning "stripe, ribbon", and μῦς (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 a subspecies of L. barbarus.[2] It is possible L. striatus and L. zebra, as presently defined, actually are species complexes.[11][12]

Lemniscomys barbarus (Linnaeus, 1766) — Barbary striped grass mouse
Lemniscomys bellieri Van der Straeten, 1975 — Bellier's striped grass mouse
Lemniscomys griselda (Thomas, 1904) — Griselda's striped grass mouse
Lemniscomys hoogstraali Dieterlen, 1991 — Hoogstraal's striped grass mouse
Lemniscomys linulus (Thomas, 1910) — Senegal one-striped grass mouse
Lemniscomys macculus (Thomas and Wroughton, 1910) — Buffoon striped grass mouse
Lemniscomys mittendorfi Eisentraut, 1968 — Mittendorf's striped grass mouse
Lemniscomys rosalia (Thomas, 1904) — single-striped grass mouse
Lemniscomys roseveari Van der Straeten, 1980 — Rosevear's striped grass mouse
Lemniscomys striatus (Linnaeus, 1758) — typical striped grass mouse
Lemniscomys zebra (Heuglin, 1864) — Heuglin's striped grass mouse

References

Kingdon, J. (1997). The Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals. pp. 212-213. ISBN 0-12-408355-2
Carleton, M D., and Van der Straeten, E. (1997). Morphological differentiation among Subsaharan and north African populations of the Lemniscomys barbarus complex (Rodentia : Muridae). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 110(4): 640-680.
Novak, R. M., editor (1999). Walker's Mammals of the World. Vol. 2. 6th edition. pp. 1596-1597. ISBN 0-8018-5789-9
Tofts, Russel. Striped Mouse. Archived September 6, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
van der Straeten, E. (2008). "Lemniscomys mittendorfi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008: e.T11486A3284110. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T11486A3284110.en. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
van der Straeten, E. (2008). "Lemniscomys hoogstraali". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
van der Straeten, E. (2008). "Lemniscomys roseveari". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
Bailly, Anatole (1981-01-01). Abrégé du dictionnaire grec français. Paris: Hachette. ISBN 2010035283. OCLC 461974285.
Bailly, Anatole. "Greek-french dictionary online". www.tabularium.be. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M., eds. (2005). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
van der Straeten, E. (2008). "Lemniscomys striatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
van der Straeten, E. (2008). "Lemniscomys zebra". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 10 December 2011.

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