{{Short description|Species of rodent}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}} {{Use Indian English|date=January 2020}} {{Speciesbox | name = Malabar spiny dormouse | fossil_range = Late Miocene to Recent | image = Malabar_spiny_dormouse.jpg | status = VU | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name=iucn>{{cite iucn |author=Molur, S. |year=2016 |errata=2017 |title=''Platacanthomys lasiurus'' |volume=2016 |article-number=e.T17481A115140938 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T17481A22240736.en |access-date=27 May 2025}}</ref> | genus = Platacanthomys | parent_authority = Blyth, 1859 | species = lasiurus | authority = Blyth, 1859 | range_map = Platacanthomys lasiurus distribution.png }}
The '''Malabar spiny dormouse''' ('''''Platacanthomys lasiurus''''') is a species of muroid rodent endemic to the Western Ghats of India. It is the only extant species in the genus '''''Platacanthomys''''' and although resembling a dormouse, it is not closely related. About the size of a brown rat, this arboreal species lives in tree holes in dense forest habitats in a small family group. They are distinguishable from other species in the area by their bushy tuft tip to the tail and the spiny fur on the back.
==Description== thumb|left|upright|Illustration (1865) This rodent is about {{cvt|5|in}} long with a {{cvt|4|in|adj=on}} tail. The ears are large and pointed at the tip. The whiskers are numerous and some are very long. The hairy tail is covered with longer hairs towards the end, making the tail wider at the tip. The hairs arise on the sides towards the base of the tail (an arrangement termed as "subdistichous") giving the tail a slightly flattened appearance. The pollux ("thumb") and hallux ("big toe") are without claws. The skull is broad and flat above and the infraorbital foramen is large. They are brownish above and whitish below with a distinct border. The feet are whitish. The tip of the tail is sometimes whitish, but is otherwise like the colour of the back.<ref name=fbi>{{cite book|author=Blanford WT|pages=394–395|title=The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Mammalia|publisher=Taylor and Francis|place=London|url=https://archive.org/stream/mammalia00blaniala#page/394/mode/1up|year=1891}}</ref> The fur on the back has scattered broad and flat spiny hairs with white tips.<ref name=pkr/> Finer spines are also found on the fur of the underside.<ref name=dist />
==Taxonomy and systematics== The genus name is derived from the flattened (''platy-'') spines (Greek ''acantha''), while ''mus'' refers to a mouse.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/newnationaldicti12huntiala#page/3638/mode/1up/|page=3638|title= The New National Dictionary, Encyclopaedia and Atlas. Volume 12|editor=Hunter, R|editor2=Charles Morris|publisher=Belford, Middlebrook & Company|place=Chicago|year=1898}}</ref> The species name ''lasiurus'' is based on the Greek ''lasios'' for hairy and ''—oura'' for tail.
The position of this species has been puzzled on from very early times. In 1860, Sclater exhibited a specimen noting it as a new dormouse from the Malabar. As early as 1865, this position was disputed on the basis of the dental formula. Peters (1865) suggested that the species was unrelated to the dormice and suggested that they should be placed with the murine genera of India.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://archive.org/stream/proceedingsofgen65zool#page/n460/mode/1up|author=Peters, W|title=Note on the systematic position of Platacanthomys lasiurus|pages=397–399| journal=Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London|year=1865}}</ref> This position in the family Muridae was used in ''The Fauna of British India'' (1891).<ref name=fbi/> Palmer (1897) placed the subfamily Platacanthomyinae within the Gliridae.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://archive.org/stream/listofgenericfam00palmrich#page/252/mode/1up/|year=1897|title=A list of the generic and family names of rodents|author=Palmer, TS|journal=Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington|volume=11| pages=241–270}}</ref> but Ellerman (1940) placed the genus in the subfamily Platacanthomyinae under the family Muscardinidae.<ref>{{cite book|author=Ellerman, JR|title=The families and genera of living rodents. Volume 1|publisher=British Museum|year=1940|page=37|url=https://archive.org/stream/familiesgeneraof01elle#page/36/mode/1up}}</ref> Nowak (1999) places the subfamily within the Muridae and includes the genus ''Typhlomys'' in this subfamily.<ref>{{cite book|title=Walker's mammals of the world. Volume 1|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|year=1999|page=1345|author=Nowak, RM}}</ref> The exact phylogenetic relations of ''Platacanthomys'' have not been examined using sequence based approaches although ''Typhlomys'' has been confirmed to belong within the Muroid clade.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Platacanthomyidae.html|title=Platacanthomyidae|author=Poor, A.|year=2005|publisher=Animal Diversity Web|access-date=28 May 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| journal=Journal of Mammalogy| volume=90| issue=5| pages=1083–1094| year=2009| title=The phylogenetic position of the rodent genus ''Typhlomys'' and the geographic origin of the Muroidea| author1=Jansa, SA| author2=T C Giarla| author3=B K Lim| name-list-style=amp| doi=10.1644/08-MAMM-A-318.1| s2cid=85424797| doi-access=free}}</ref>
A fossil from the late Miocene (about 9 Mya) of China has been described as ''Platacanthomys dianensis''.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Qiu, Z.-D. |year=1989|title=Fossil platacanthomyids from the hominoid locality of Lufeng, Yunnan.|journal= Vertebrata PalAsiatica|volume= 27|pages=268–283}}</ref>
==Distribution== The species is found only in the denser forest regions of the Western Ghats and the Nilgiri hills. They are found in altitudes up to {{cvt|2000|m}} (such as at Ootacamund and Coonoor<ref name=coonoor>{{cite journal|title=Note on the Malabar spiny mouse (''Platacantomys lasiurus'')|journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society|volume=18|page=679|author=Gray, Charles|year=1908|url=https://archive.org/stream/journalofbombayn18bomb#page/678/mode/1up}}</ref>) and are found at very low densities.<ref name=abund>{{cite journal|title=Abundance and habitat selection of the Malabar spiny dormouse in the rainforests of the southern Western Ghats, India. |author1=Mudappa, D |author2=A Kumar |author3=R. Chellam |name-list-style=amp |year=2001|journal=Current Science|volume=80|issue=3|pages=424–427|url=http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/feb102001/424.pdf}}</ref> The northernmost record is from Sagar in Shimoga district of Karnataka.<ref name=pkr/> Records are few and scattered and published records are from Aralam, Coorg,<ref name=coorg>{{cite journal|author=Ryley, Kathleen V|year=1913| title=Mammal survey of India- Report No. 11 Coorg| journal=J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.|volume=22| issue=3|pages=486–513}}</ref> Peppara and Karianshola.<ref name=pkr>{{cite journal|author=Rajagopalan PK|year=1968|title= Notes on the Malabar Spiny Dormouse, ''Platacanthomys lasiurus'' Blyth 1859 with new distribution record|journal=J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.|volume=65| issue=1|pages=214–215}}</ref><ref name=dist>{{cite journal|title=Distribution of spiny tree mouse (Platacanthomys lasiurus Blyth, 1859) in the Western Ghats of Kerala, India|author1=Jayson, E. A. |author2=Jayahari, K. M. |journal= Mammalia |year=2009 |volume=73| issue=4|pages= 331–337 | doi=10.1515/MAMM.2009.059|s2cid=84822290 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author1=Jayson, E.A. |author2=Christopher, G. |name-list-style=amp |year=1995| title=Sighting of spiny dormouse (''Platacanthomys lasiurus'') Blyth, 1859 in Peppara Wildlife Sanctuary, Trivandrum District, Kerala|journal= Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society| volume= 92| issue=2|page=259}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=New records of the Malabar spiny dormouse (''Platacanthomys lasiurus'' Blyth) in the Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary, Tamil Nadu|journal=J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.|year=1997|volume=94| issue=1|pages=151–152|author=Prabhakar A}}</ref>
The species was however considered to be common when it was first discovered by Reverend H. Baker (from Mundakyam, Allepey). He obtained the first specimens for Edward Blyth and noted that they lived in hole nests in large trees and that they were considered a minor pest of fruit trees and in cardamom and pepper plantations.<ref name=fbi/><ref name=coorg/>
==Behaviour and ecology== The species is nocturnal and is largely frugivorous. A specimen in captivity fed voraciously on a diet of fruits. When sleeping, it curls its body, hedgehog-like, with its tail protruding.<ref name=pkr/> The species is believed to feed on pepper in plantations, but trapping surveys suggest they are mainly restricted to undisturbed forest habitats.<ref name=abund />
Four young have been noted in one litter.<ref name=coonoor/> <gallery> File:Platacanthomys.png|Illustration showing the distinctive bushy tail File:PlatacanthomysMolars.png|Detail of the molar teeth surface File:Elaeocarpus_feeding.jpg|Dormouse feeding signs on ''Elaeocarpus tuberculatus'' </gallery>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== {{Commons category|Platacanthomys lasiurus}} * Jayson E.A. 2006. Status, distribution, food and feeding of Malabar Spiny Dormouse (''Platacanthomys lasiurus'' Blyth) in the Western Ghats of Kerala. KFRI Research Report No. 293. Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi. 118 p.
{{Myomorpha|M.|state=collapsed}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q1572813}}
Category:Platacanthomyidae Category:Rodents of India Category:Endemic fauna of the Western Ghats Category:Mammals described in 1859 Category:Taxa named by Edward Blyth