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Neave's Mouse

Mus neavei
DD · Data deficient Rodentia Muridae
Activity
Nocturnal
Sociability
Solitary

Description

One of the least known mice of southern Africa, Neave's Mouse is documented only from scattered records across South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It belongs to the same small group of pygmy mice as two sympatric species with which it is easily confused in the field, and its specific biology remains largely a mystery.

How to identify it

Very small mouse. Greyish-brown pelage. Virtually indistinguishable at first glance from other pygmy mouse species in the region; reliable identification requires dental or genetic examination.

Signs and tracks

Tiny track, rarely visible except on very fine substrates. It digs shallow burrows or uses natural shelters under dense vegetation.

Habitat and range

Dry savanna, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Diet

Presumably seeds and small insects, like the rest of its genus.

Behaviour

Biology poorly known due to the scarcity of records and field studies on Neave's Mouse.

Conservation

The lack of sufficient information on its true distribution, population and trends prevents a reliable assessment of its extinction risk.

Threats

Unknown due to a lack of sufficient information on Neave's Mouse.

Other accounts in Muridae

See all species accounts for rodents · Full species index

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