Abrothrix olivacea, also known as the olive grass mouse[1] or olive akodont,[2] is a species of rodent in the genus Abrothrix of family Cricetidae. It is found from northern Chile into southern Chile and Argentina, including the islands of Tierra del Fuego. It is prone to large swings in population size.
| Olive grass mouse | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Cricetidae |
| Subfamily: | Sigmodontinae |
| Genus: | Abrothrix |
| Species: | A. olivacea
|
| Binomial name | |
| Abrothrix olivacea (Waterhouse, 1837)
| |
| Synonyms | |
|
Akodon mansoensis | |
Taxonomy edit
Abrothrix olivacea has had a complex history in both of the genera Akodon and Abrothrix, and includes at least 27 synonyms. A few, including markhami, mansoensis, and xanthorhinus have been viewed as valid species until recent years, and several subspecies are still recognized, including Abrothrix olivacea markhami.[3]
Description edit
The olive grass mouse is a small rodent with a total length of about 17 cm (6.7 in). The upper parts are greyish-brown, sometimes slightly yellowish around the snout, and the underparts are pale to mid-grey.[4]
Distribution and habitat edit
This species is found in northern and central Chile and the westernmost fringes of Argentina, southern Chile and Patagonia, including the larger offshore islands and the islands of Tierra del Fuego. Its habitat varies; in Patagonia it inhabits arid bushy steppes; further north it is found in the forests of Nothofagus, Saxegothaea and bamboo; elsewhere it occurs in tussocky grassland, marshes and wet meadows.[5]
Ecology edit
The olive grass mouse is mostly diurnal. In grassy habitats, it creates runways and makes a nest of grasses in a tussock, among roots or under a rock. It can climb and also dig, and in Chile it sometimes occupies burrows made by other mammals such as the coruro (Spalacopus cyanus). It feeds on berries, seeds, shoots, leaves, fungi and small invertebrates. It breeds in spring and summer and litter sizes average five young. Under favourable conditions, and in El Niño years, populations can increase dramatically. This mouse is preyed on by barn owls (Tyto tyto) and lesser horned owls (Bubo magellanicus), various other birds and foxes.[5] The Olive grass mouse is a host of the Acanthocephalan intestinal parasite Moniliformis amini.[6]
Outbreaks of this species sometimes occur. In 1990, the bamboo Chusquea valdiviensis had a mass seeding phenomenon in which over a million hectares of this bamboo in southern Chile flowered at the same time and then died. The enormous quantities of seeds were followed by a mass population increase of the rice rat Oligoryzomys longicaudatus and to a lesser extent, of the olive grass mouse. Increases in rodent numbers can be attributed to a greater fecundity, a higher survival rate of juveniles and an extension in the breeding season. Since many of the bamboo seeds were retained within the flowering spikelets for a year, further rodent population peaks occurred in subsequent years.[7]
Status edit
A. olivacea is a common species with a presumed large population. It has a wide range and is present in several protected areas. It seems tolerant of habitat degradation and no particular threats have been identified, so the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".[1]
References edit
- ^ a b c Patterson, B.; Pardinas, U.; D'Elia, G. (2008). "Abrothrix olivaceus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 2015-08-30.
- ^ Musser and Carleton, 2005, p. 1090
- ^ Musser and Carleton, 2005, p. 1090; Rodríguez-Serrano et al., 2008
- ^ Sharon Chester (19 April 2010). A Wildlife Guide to Chile: Continental Chile, Chilean Antarctica, Easter Island, Juan Fernandez Archipelago. Princeton University Press. pp. 311–. ISBN 978-1-4008-3150-0.
- ^ a b James L. Patton; Ulyses F. J. Pardiñas; Guillermo D'Elía (9 March 2015). Mammals of South America, Volume 2: Rodents. University of Chicago Press. pp. 123–. ISBN 978-0-226-16957-6.
- ^ Guerreiro Martins, Natalia Beatriz; Del Rosario Robles, María; Navone, Graciela Teresa (2017). "A new species of Moniliformis from a Sigmodontinae rodent in Patagonia (Argentina)". Parasitology Research. 116 (8): 2091–2099. doi:10.1007/s00436-017-5508-9. PMID 28585077. S2CID 33203157. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
- ^ Gallardo, Milton H.; Mercado, Claudia L. (1999). "Mast seeding of bamboo shrubs and mouse outbreaks in southern Chile" (PDF). Mastozoología Neotropical. 6 (2): 103–111.
Literature cited edit
- Musser, G.G. and Carleton, M.D. 2005. Superfamily Muroidea. Pp. 894–1531 in Wilson, D.E. and Reeder, D.M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: a taxonomic and geographic reference. 3rd ed. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols., 2142 pp. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0
- Patterson, B., Pardinas, U. and D'Elia, G. 2008. Abrothrix olivaceus. In IUCN. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on January 12, 2010.
- Rodríguez-Serrano, E., Hernández, C.E. and Palma, R.E. 2008. A new record and an evaluation of the phylogenetic relationships of Abrothrix olivaceus markhami (Rodentia: Sigmodontinae). Mammalian Biology 73(4):309–317.