Diversity, dynamics and reproduction in a community of small mammals in Upper Guinea, with emphasis on pygmy mice ecology

Abstract

As part of a large survey on reservoirs of Lassa fever in Guinea, three villages were investigated in high endemic zone, close to Sierra Leone border. Biodiversity of the small mammal community is presented in this study through a standardized trapping in houses, cultivations and forest. Identification of the small mammals was based on morphology and by molecular technique for sibling species. Of the 1123 specimens collected in 2003–2005, we identified seventeen species (thirteen Muridae, four Soricidae), leading to high diversity (Shannon index = 1.6–1.8) and high equitability (evenness index = 0.7–0.8) in cultivations and forest. In houses conversely, the rodent community was dominated by Mastomys natalensis (95–98%), leading to low diversity and equitability. Dynamics and reproduction were investigated in two species of pygmy mice, Mus mattheyi and Mus minutoides, two species of Praomys, P. daltoni and P. rostratus, and in Mastomys erythroleucus. The pygmy mice were abundant in cultivations in early rainy season, and reproduced from rainy to dry season. Praomys daltoni was also found more abundant in cultivations and seemed to reproduce between rainy and dry season, whereas P. rostratus preferred forest and cultivations in late rainy season, and reproduced throughout the year. Finally, M. erythroleucus was more abundant in forest in dry season, and seemed to reproduce from late rainy to dry season. This species had a low occurrence (6.5%) in the Faranah’s zone, and probably lived at its southern limit in Guinea. The presence of other Murinae, such as M. natalensis, Praomys spp as possible competitors in the same habitats, is discussed. For the first time, this study relates population biology of pygmy mice with molecular identification.

Pan-African phylogeny of Mus (subgenus Nannomys) reveals one of the most successful mammal radiations in Africa

“…Previous studies revealed that at several sites more than one species of Nannomys occurs in sympatry [12,13,23]. Their observations are in agreement with the distribution ranges based on genotyped individuals (Figure 1) showing largely overlapping distribution areas of many species.…”

“…Only very limited genetic data are available, because the species of the baoulei group are probably rare or difficult to capture [12,13,23]. The species of this group occur in the forest-savannah ecotone and are generally larger than other West African species (except M. setulosus ) [12].…”

Range expansion of the invasive house mouseMus musculus domesticusinSenegal,WestAfrica: a synthesis of trapping data over three decades, 1983–2014

“…Numerical dominance by very few species is, however, typical of commensal communities (e.g. Fichet-Calvet et al 2010, Shochat et al 2010, Weissbrod et al 2014. We found that species richness varies with latitude with a peak at around 14°N.…”

At Home with Mastomys and Rattus: Human-Rodent Interactions and Potential for Primary Transmission of Lassa Virus in Domestic Spaces

“…In Upper Guinea, M. natalensis comprises between 95% and 98% of rodents captured in houses 20. In coastal Guinea, the black rat Rattus rattus enters into houses and tends to evict M. erythroleucus 21.…”