Striped grass mouse should not be confused with Rhabdomys.
Lemniscomys, sometimes known as striped grass mice or zebra mice, is a genus of murine rodents from Africa. Most species are from Sub-Saharan Africa; L. barbarus is the only one found north of the Sahara.[1] They are generally found in grassy habitats, but where several species overlap in distribution there is a level of habitat differentiation between them.[1]
They are 18.5- long, of which about half is tail, and weigh 18-.[1] The pelage pattern of the species fall into three main groups: The "true" zebra mice with distinct dark and pale stripes (L. barbarus, L. hoogstraali and L. zebra), the spotted grass mice with more spotty/interrupted stripes (L. bellieri, L. macculus, L. mittendorfi and L. striatus), and the single-striped grass mice with only a single dark stripe along the back (L. griselda, L. linulus, L. rosalia and L. roseveari).[2] [3]
They are generally considered diurnal, but at least some species can be active during the night.[3] They feed on plants, but sometimes take insects.[1] There are up to 12 young per litter, but 4–5 is more common.[3] The life expectancy is very short, in the wild often only a year, but a captive L. striatus lived for almost 5 years.[3] A more typical captive life expectancy is 2–2½ years.
While most are common and not threatened, L. mittendorfi is restricted to Mount Oku and considered Vulnerable by the IUCN.[4] L. hoogstraali and L. roseveari are both very poorly known, leading to their rating as Data Deficient.[5] [6] Some of the widespread species are regularly kept in captivity, especially L. barbarus, L. striatus and L. zebra.[7]
The etymology of the genus name Lemniscomys derives from the two ancient greek words, meaning "stripe, ribbon", and, meaning "mouse, rat",[8] [9] and refers to the pelage pattern.
Lemniscomys currently includes 11 species. Until 1997, L. zebra was generally treated as a subspecies of L. barbarus.[2] It is possible L. striatus and L. zebra, as presently defined, actually are species complexes.[10] [11]