| Awash multimammate mouse | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
 Least Concern (IUCN 3.1) | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Muridae |
| Genus: | Mastomys |
| Species: | M. awashensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Mastomys awashensis Lavrenchenko, Likhnova & Baskevich, 1998 | |
The Awash multimammate mouse or Awash mastomys (Mastomys awashensis) is a species of rodent in the family Muridae found only in Ethiopia. Phylogentically the Awash multimammate mouse is the sister taxon of the Natal multimammate mouse (M. natalensis), a species found almost everywhere in Africa south of the Sahara and considered a serious agricultural pest throughout its range.
Habitat
Its natural habitats are dry savanna and arable land. It is threatened by habitat loss. It is also considered as a pest for grain crops.
Ecology
The species' ecology has been studied in detail in the croplands of the Degua Tembien district in Tigray, where it commonly occurs in crop fields, domestic and peri-domestic habitats in wider altitudinal range (1500 m up to 2700 m). Being a nocturnal and burrowing species, it prefers crop fields with vertisols. Likewise, the multimammate mouse possibly contributes to a significant portion to the rodent diet of night-active raptors such as Barn owl.
References
- Kennerley, R.; Lavrenchenko, L. (2016). "Mastomys awashensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T45060A22425623. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T45060A22425623.en. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
- ^ Meheretu Yonas; Leirs, H (2019). Raptor perch sites for biological control of agricultural pest rodents. In: Nyssen J., Jacob, M., Frankl, A. (Eds.). Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains - The Dogu'a Tembien District. SpringerNature. ISBN 978-3-030-04954-6.
- Meheretu Yonas; Kiros Welegerima; Sluydts, V; Bauer, H; Kindeya Gebrehiwot; Deckers, J; Makundi, R; Leirs, H (2015). "Reproduction and survival of rodents in crop fields: the effects of rainfall, crop stage and stone-bund density". Wildlife Research. 42 (2): 158–164. doi:10.1071/WR14121.
- Meheretu Yonas; Kiros Welegerima; Deckers, S; Raes, D; Makundi, R; Leirs, H (2010). "Farmers' perspectives of rodent damage and management from the highlands of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia". Crop Protection. 29 (6): 532–539. doi:10.1016/j.cropro.2009.12.006.
- Musser, G. G.; Carleton, M. D. (2005). "Superfamily Muroidea". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 1361–1362. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
| Taxon identifiers | |
|---|---|
| Mastomys awashensis | |
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