Geographic Range
Idiurus macrotis
is native to southern Cameroon and Eastern Zaire, and the Bwamba forests in Uganda.
Habitat
Idiurus macrotis
inhabits dense tropical forests. This species is almost completely arboreal. Individuals
spend days sleeping in the hollows of large trees and nights gliding from one tree
to the next.
- Habitat Regions
- tropical
- Terrestrial Biomes
- forest
- rainforest
Physical Description
Idiurus macrotis is named for one of its remarkable characteristics, idios being Greek for ‘peculiar’ and oura meaning ‘tail’. The tail is longer than the head and body and is made feather-like in appearance by both long, widely spaced hairs and short, dense hairs that project laterally, almost perpendicular to the length of the tail. The hairless areas on the dorsal and ventral sides of the tail are scaly, and there are large horny scales present near the body. The tail may assist in gripping trees as well as balancing the animal.
The total length of
I. macrotis
is 208 to 220 mm and it weighs 25 to 35g. The pelage is short and dense and has a
soft texture. The individual hairs are dark grey at the base and pale at the tips,
with no patterns or color variation. The gliding membrane is also hairy. It extends
between the hind- and forelimbs, with a small section connecting the wrist and neck
and another enclosing a short portion of the tail and neck. The feet are covered with
dark grey bristles and the claws are not very developed. The whiskers are long and
black.
- Other Physical Features
- endothermic
- bilateral symmetry
- Sexual Dimorphism
- male larger
Reproduction
Almost nothing is known about the reproduction of
Idiurus macrotis
.
Almost nothing is known about their breeding habits.
They have been captured and found to be pregnant in June and August.
- Key Reproductive Features
- gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
- sexual
- viviparous
There is almost nothing known about the parental investment of Idiurus mactotis . It can be inferred that like all mammals , females nurse their young and therefore provide at least some care.
- Parental Investment
-
pre-hatching/birth
-
provisioning
- female
-
provisioning
-
pre-weaning/fledging
-
provisioning
- female
-
provisioning
Lifespan/Longevity
The lifespan is not known.
They cannot survive for any significant time in captivity.
Behavior
Idiurus macrotis
spend the day in colonies, clinging to the insides of hollow trees and sleeping.
They may be found sharing a den with other species in the genus or some species of
bats
. They huddle together and are usually found in groups ranging from 2 to 40. They
return to their specific den each night around 06.00 h. Dens have been observed to
be inhabited for over three years. They leave the den one at a time between 18.15
and 19.00 h and stay on the den tree trunk for a half an hour before gliding to neighboring
trees. They avoid leaving the trees. No kind of social interaction has been observed
during the activity period. During the activity period, a translocated male was recorded
as using an area seven acres large, averaging a distance of 790 m.
Home Range
A male Idiurus macrotis that was tracked with a radio collar for 48 hours stayed within a three hectare area.
Communication and Perception
Idiurus macrotis produce a mouse-like squeak. Its primary function is not known.
Food Habits
Stomach contents of specimens indicate that they are mostly frugivorous. Also, some
bark peeling and ingestion of phloem sap has been observed, but little else is known
about their feeding habits.
- Plant Foods
- wood, bark, or stems
- fruit
- sap or other plant fluids
Ecosystem Roles
Little information is available on the impact this species has on its ecosystem. Idiurus macrotis may disperse the seeds of the fruit it eats, and may damage trees by eating bark.
- Ecosystem Impact
- disperses seeds
Conservation Status
Idiurus macrotis is considered a lower risk, but near threatened species on the IUCN redlist. Habitat loss due to deforestation is considered the largest threat to this species.
Additional Links
Contributors
Matthew Wund (editor), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.
emily rudman (author), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Phil Myers (editor, instructor), Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.
- Ethiopian
-
living in sub-Saharan Africa (south of 30 degrees north) and Madagascar.
- native range
-
the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.
- tropical
-
the region of the earth that surrounds the equator, from 23.5 degrees north to 23.5 degrees south.
- forest
-
forest biomes are dominated by trees, otherwise forest biomes can vary widely in amount of precipitation and seasonality.
- rainforest
-
rainforests, both temperate and tropical, are dominated by trees often forming a closed canopy with little light reaching the ground. Epiphytes and climbing plants are also abundant. Precipitation is typically not limiting, but may be somewhat seasonal.
- sexual
-
reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female
- viviparous
-
reproduction in which fertilization and development take place within the female body and the developing embryo derives nourishment from the female.
- arboreal
-
Referring to an animal that lives in trees; tree-climbing.
- nocturnal
-
active during the night
- motile
-
having the capacity to move from one place to another.
- social
-
associates with others of its species; forms social groups.
- colonial
-
used loosely to describe any group of organisms living together or in close proximity to each other - for example nesting shorebirds that live in large colonies. More specifically refers to a group of organisms in which members act as specialized subunits (a continuous, modular society) - as in clonal organisms.
- visual
-
uses sight to communicate
- tactile
-
uses touch to communicate
- acoustic
-
uses sound to communicate
- chemical
-
uses smells or other chemicals to communicate
- herbivore
-
An animal that eats mainly plants or parts of plants.
- frugivore
-
an animal that mainly eats fruit
- endothermic
-
animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate body temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds.
- bilateral symmetry
-
having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.
References
Julliot, C., S. Cajani, A. Gautier-Hion. 1998. Anomalures (Rodentia, Anomaluridae) in Central Gabon : species conposition, population densities and ecology. Mammals , 62(1): 9-18.
Kingdon, J. 1974. East African mammals : an atlas of evolution in Africa IIB Hares and Rodents . London: Academic Press.
Nowak, R. 1997. "Walker's Mammals of the World Online" (On-line). Accessed January 11, 2004 at http://www.press.jhu.edu/books/walkers_mammals_of_the_world/rodentia/rodentia.anomaluridae.idiurus.html .
Rham, U. 1990. Scaly-Tailed Squirrel-Group Rodents. Pp. 118-125 in Griximek's encyclopedia of mammals , Vol. Vol 3. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Rosevear, D. 1969. Rodents of West Africa . London: British Museum of Natural History.