Order : RODENTIA
Family : Muridae
Species : Chiropodomys gliroides

Head-Body Length : Up to 10 cm
Tail Length : Up to 14 cm
Weight : Up to 35 gms

The Indomalayan Pencil-tailed Tree Mouse is a rodent of primary and secondary forests, as well as disturbed habitats such as young secondary forest and bamboo thickets. It occurs in lowland and montane areas up to at least 1000 metres.

This small mouse is characterised by its relatively long tail, which is equivalent to 135% of the head-body length. The soft fur on the upperparts varies from pale fawn to pale grey, and the underparts are white. The tail is generally hairy, ending in a brush-like tip. The head is short, the eyes relatively large, the ears rounded, and the whiskers long.

Nocturnal in habits, this species builds its nest in bamboo stems as well as tree holes. The feet are short and adapted for climbing with opposable thumbs : the species rarely comes to ground.

The species ranges from parts of northeastern India and southern China, through Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam to Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java and Bali.

Fig 1 : A pair emerging from a treehole at dusk.

Figs 2 and 3 : A rare encounter with a Pencil-tailed Tree Mouse on the ground. Fraser's Hill, Peninsular Malaysia.

Fig 4 : Close of the tail showing the brush-like tip.


References : M2, M3