Banana African Climbing Mouse
Dendromus messorius (Thomas, 1903)
Also calledBananenklettermaus (deu) · Dendromus des bananiers (fra) · Souris arboricole de bananier (fra) · banaanikiipijähiiri (fin) · nadrzewnik bananowy (pol) · トマスキノボリマウス (jpn)
First described in: Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 7 vol.12 p.340
The banana climbing mouse (Dendromus messorius) is a species of rodent in the family Nesomyidae. It is found in Benin, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, and Togo. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland.
Descriptions from checklists and floras indexed by GBIF
discussion
Discussion: Treated as part of D. mystacalis by Misonne (1974), but regarded as a separate species by Hatt (1940) and Dieterlen (1971), who pointed out its sympatric occurrence with D. mystacalis. Morphology and pelage coloration similar to D. mystacalis, but body size larger, middorsal stripe absent (present but indistinct in some D. mystacalis, absent in many), and underparts white (white to buffy gray in D. mystacalis). Both species may be phylogenetically close to southern African D. mesomelas. Hatt (1940) and Rosevear (1969) provided excellent descriptions of morphology and habits.
Order Rodentia - Family Nesomyidae
distribution
Distribution: Tropical lowlands and lower mountain slopes, from Ghana (Grubb et al., 1998) through Benin (USNM 422451), Nigeria (USNM 410307), and Cameroon (series in AMNH and MCZ), to N Dem. Rep. Congo (series in AMNH and USNM) and extreme S Sudan (Torit region; USNM 299833, 299834); southwards to NW (USNM 165270) and W Uganda (Ruwenzori Mtns; series in AMNH and MCZ), W Kenya near Lake Victoria (USNM series) and Mt Elgon (holotype of ruddi; MCZ specimens; Clausnitzer and Kityo, 2001); limits unresolved (Dieterlen, 1971).
Order Rodentia - Family Nesomyidae
discussion
COMMENTS: Treated as part of D. mystacalis by Misonne (1974), but regarded as a separate species by Hatt (1940 a) and Dieterlen (1971), who pointed out its sympatric distribution with D. mystacalis.
Order Rodentia - Family Muridae
distribution
DISTRIBUTION: Benin, Nigeria to Zaire, Uganda, Kenya, and Sudan; limits not yet resolved.
Order Rodentia - Family Muridae
Where it has been recorded
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
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In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Dendromus messorius in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
From the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and occurrence records (GBIF.org), with Wikipedia and the Source Library. GBIF species 5219767.