16.

Mountain Spiny Pocket Mouse

Heteromys oresterus

French: Souris-a-ajaboues de montagne / German: Costa-Rica-Stacheltaschenmaus / Spanish: Raton espinoso de montana

Taxonomy. Heteromys oresterus Harris, 1932,

El Copey de Dota, Cordillera de Talamanca, 6,000 ft., Costa Rica.

This species is monotypic.

Distribution. C Costa Rica (restricted to the N end of the Cordillera de Talamanca, provinces of Cartago and San José).

Descriptive notes. Head—body mean 159 mm (males) and 141 mm (females), tail mean 175 mm (males) and 169 mm (females), ear mean 18 mm, hindfoot mean 40 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. Male Mountain Spiny Pocket Mice are significantly larger than females. This is the second-largest species ofthe genus Heteromys, after Nelson’s Spiny Pocket Mouse ( H. nelsoni). It is scansorial, with harsh adult pelage having soft, spine-like hairs on dorsal and lateral surfaces of body. Upper parts are blackish gray with a sprinkling of ocherous hairs, sides more bufty but without a lateral line, and belly is white. Ears are blackish with white edging. Posterior parts of soles of hindfeet are naked and have six tubercles. Tail is much longer than head-body length, thinly haired, and bicolor except at its black base and white tip. Chromosomal complement has 2n = 60 and FN = 78.

Habitat. Wet, montane oak forest with numerous fallen trees at elevations of 1800-2600 m. The Mountain Spiny Pocket Mouse also occurs in secondary forest.

Food and Feeding. There is no information available for this species.

Breeding. There is no information available for this species.

Activity patterns. The Mountain Spiny Pocket mouse is nocturnal and terrestrial.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. There is no information available for this species.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List.

Bibliography. Best (1993a), Rogers & Gonzalez (2010), Rogers & Rogers (1992a), Williams et al. (1993), Woodman et al. (2008).