Mearns's pouched mouse

Mearns's pouched mouse
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Nesomyidae
Genus:	Saccostomus
Species:	S. mearnsi
Binomial name
Saccostomus mearnsi Heller, 1910

Mearns's pouched mouse (Saccostomus mearnsi) is a species of rodent in the family Nesomyidae. It is found in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are dry savanna, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, hot deserts, and arable land.

Saccostomus mearnsi is prey for the olive hissing snake, Psammophis mossambicus, and is host for the fleas of the genus Xenopsylla. Saccostomus mearnsi competes with large mammals such as giraffes, elephants, and cattle, for grasses, which they both eat. For that reason, any declines in populations of large mammals lead to increased populations of Mearn's pouched mouse, which then lead to increased populations of snakes and fleas.^[1]

References

• Corti, M., Oguge, N. & Coetzee, N. 2004. Saccostomus mearnsi. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 20 July 2007.
• Musser, G. G.; Carleton, M. D. (2005). "Superfamily Muroidea". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 894–1531. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.

1. Keesing, Felicia; Young, Truman P. (2014-06-01). "Cascading Consequences of the Loss of Large Mammals in an African Savanna". BioScience. 64 (6): 487–495. doi:10.1093/biosci/biu059. ISSN 1525-3244.