National Museum of Natural Science

This is a small mouse, weighing 10-14 grams. Its dorsal pelage is dark gray and ventral pelage is ash white with a clear boundary between the two. The tail is dark brown along the dorsal surface and pale white along the ventral surface. The Ryukyu mouse has strong reproductive ability and juveniles reach sexual maturity in around one month. This is the main mouse species in the fields on Taiwan’s plains. It is widely distributed in grasslands and on farmland at low elevations and mainly feeds on rhizomes and seeds.

Text/Chen Yan-Jun, Chen Mu-Xuan

Photo/Huang Xiao-Ting

Ryukyu mouse