Barbary striped grass mouse

The Barbary striped grass mouse (Lemniscomys barbarus) is a small rodent of the suborder Myomorpha. This monotypic species is native to coastal Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia in northwest Africa.^[1][2][3] In the past it was believed to also occur throughout a large part of Sub-Saharan Africa, but these populations are now treated as a separate species, the Heuglin's striped grass mouse (L. zebra).^[2][3] These relatively small Lemniscomys are among the species most commonly kept in captivity.^[4]

Barbary striped grass mouse
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Muridae
Genus:	Lemniscomys
Species:	L. barbarus
Binomial name
Lemniscomys barbarus (Linnaeus, 1766)

The Barbary mouse, in an 1895 illustration

The Barbary, Heuglin's and Hoogstral's striped grass mouse (L. hoogstraali) form a group that have a distinctly dark and light striped pelage.^[3] Other Lemniscomys either have more spotty/interrupted stripes or only a single dark stripe along the back.^[3]

References

1. Cassola, F. (2017) [errata version of 2016 assessment]. "Lemniscomys barbarus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T11487A115518800. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T11487A22439107.en. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
2. Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M., eds. (2005). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
3. Carleton, M D., and Van der Straeten, E. (1997). Morphological differentiation among Subsaharan and north African populations of the Lemniscomys barbarus complex (Rodentia : Muridae). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 110(4): 640-680.
4. Tofts, Russel. Striped Mouse. Archived September 6, 2007, at the Wayback Machine