Mount Tapulao forest mouse
Mammal found in the Philippines
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Mount Tapulao forest mouse (Apomys brownorum) is a forest mouse endemic to the Mount Tapulao area in the Philippines.[1] It is named after the American zoologist Barbara Elaine Russell Brown.[2]
Anatomy and physiology
The mouse is the smallest species in its genus, measuring in total "230-255 mm; tail: 107-116 mm; hind foot: 31-35 mm; ear: 21 - 22 mm" and weighing 60-84 grams.[3] On its dorsal side, the mouse has long, dense, soft, dark brown fur, with dark gray ventral fur turning a lighter gray-brown at the tips. Its tail is bicolored, "dark grayish-brown dorsally and nearly white ventrally."[3]
Ecology
The Mount Tapulaou forest mouse lives in old growth cloud forests and regenerating secondary forests at a height of 2024 m, with a lower limit somewhere between 1690 m and 2024 m. It is unknown how extensive chromium mining of the habitat affects the species.[3]
Behavior
The mouse eats seeds and invertebrates such as earthworms. It is nocturnal.[3]
