Chinese Dormouse
Encyclopedia
The Chinese Dormouse or Sichuan Dormouse (Chaetocauda sichuanensis) is a species of dormouse
that lives in sub-alpine mixed forests in northern Sichuan
, China
. It is known only from two captured female specimens taken in the Wanglang Natural Reserve and was first described by Wang Youzhi in 1985 and re-listed by Corbet and Hill (1991, 1992) under a new genus
as Chaetocauda sichuanensis. It is currently the only member of the genus Chaetocauda. The two specimens had head and body lengths of 90mm and 91mm and tail lengths of 92mm and 102mm respectively. They weighed 24.5g and 36g. It is nocturnal and arboreal, nesting in trees around 3 metres above the ground and was found above an altitude of 2500m above sea level. It is classified as endangered by the IUCN as of the 2004 Red List due to its small isolated habitat. http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php?species=6860
Dormouse
Dormice are rodents of the family Gliridae. Dormice are mostly found in Europe, although some live in Africa and Asia. They are particularly known for their long periods of hibernation...
that lives in sub-alpine mixed forests in northern Sichuan
Sichuan
' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. It is known only from two captured female specimens taken in the Wanglang Natural Reserve and was first described by Wang Youzhi in 1985 and re-listed by Corbet and Hill (1991, 1992) under a new genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
as Chaetocauda sichuanensis. It is currently the only member of the genus Chaetocauda. The two specimens had head and body lengths of 90mm and 91mm and tail lengths of 92mm and 102mm respectively. They weighed 24.5g and 36g. It is nocturnal and arboreal, nesting in trees around 3 metres above the ground and was found above an altitude of 2500m above sea level. It is classified as endangered by the IUCN as of the 2004 Red List due to its small isolated habitat. http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php?species=6860
External links
- The Dormouse Hollow
- An illustration of The Chinese Dormouse at the Animal Diversity Web
