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Cursor grass mouse

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Cursor Grass Mouse
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Phylum:
Class:
Order:
Family:
Genus:
Species:
A. cursor
Binomial name
Akodon cursor
Winge, 1887

The Cursor Grass Mouse or Cursorial Akodont (Akodon cursor), is a rodent species from South America.[2] It is found in Argentina and Brazil.[1]

Description

The cursor grass mouse is a moderately sized rodent, with a head-body length of 11 to 13 centimetres (4.3 to 5.1 in), and a tail 8 to 11 centimetres (3.1 to 4.3 in) long. Males are larger than females, weighing an average of ((convert|54|g}}, compared with 43 g (1.5 oz) for females. They have a typical mouse-like appearance, with short whiskers and stubby claws on the feet. They dark to golden brown fur over most of the body, with paler greyish or yellowish underparts. Some have a whitish spot between the ears, but this is not present on all individuals.[3]

Cursor grass mice are members of the A. cursor species group, and very similar in appearance to other members of the group. In particular, they cannot easily be distinguished from the closely related montane grass mouse, which inhabits neighbouring regions to the immediate south. Although the cursor grass mouse is, on average, slightly larger than the montane species, there is too much overlap for this to be a reliable guide. Instead, they can most readily be distinguished by the presence of a gall bladder in A. cursor (absent in the montane species), or by karyotypic analysis.[3][4]

Distribution and habitat

Diet and behaviour

Reproduction

References

  1. ^ a b Template:IUCN2008
  2. ^ Musser, G. G.; Carleton, M. D. (2005). "Superfamily Muroidea". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 1094. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  3. ^ a b Geise, L. (2012). "Akodon cursor (Rodentia: Cricetidae)". Mammalian Species. 44 (1): 33–43. doi:10.1644/893.1.
  4. ^ Geise, L.; et al. (2004). "Presence or absence of gall bladder in some Akodontini rodents (Muridae, Sigmodontinae)". Mammalian Biology. 69 (3): 210–214. doi:10.1078/1616-5047-00136. {{cite journal}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |author= (help)