Thorny Dormouse [1] ( lat. Platacanthomys lasiurus ) is a mammal of the Platacanthomyidae family of rodent detachment. Endemic to India , lives only in the mountains of the Western Ghats .
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| Platacanthomys lasiurus Blyth , 1859 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Outwardly resembles a garden dormouse with a reddish-brown coloration of the back and a whitish abdomen. However, sharp flat wide needles mixed with soft undercoat grow on the back of a prickly dormouse. The tail is pubescent only at the end and colored darker than the body; it is slightly shorter than the body - 7.5-10 cm. The length of the body of prickly dormouse is 13-21 cm, weight 60-80 g.
Thorny dormouse live in hilly and low-mountain areas, at an altitude of 600-900 m above sea level. They settle in forests and on bushes covered with shrubs. In tree hollows, rocky cracks arrange spherical nests of moss and leaves. An arboreal, presumably nocturnal; Climb the branches, using a long tail as a balancer. Propagate, apparently, in the wet season. They feed on plant foods - seeds, fruits and green shoots. For the habit of eating ripening peppers, they are sometimes called " pepper rats ."
Life expectancy is unknown; one caught female lived in captivity for 20 months.
Although in some places prickly dormouse are very numerous, however, they are studied very poorly.
International Red Book IUCN 3.1 Vulnerable : 17481 |
Notes
- ↑ Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia. "Mammals" Prince. 2 = The New Encyclopedia of Mammals / Ed. D. MacDonald . - M .: Omega, 2007 .-- S. 448. - 3000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-465-01346-8 .