A recent study has shown that females of this species have exhibited an XY chromosome combination in 10-66% of samples. Sex ratio of males to females is typically 1:1.
Akodon cursor, like most mammals, relies on a suite of visual, auditory, chemical, and tactile cues for communicating with conspecifics. It is likely that olfactory cues are important in communicating territories and reproductive activity.
Communication Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Akodon cursor is abundant in appropriate habitats, they are not protected under CITES or IUCN.
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
There are no known negative impacts of Akodon cursor on humans.
Despite the reputation of rodents to damage crops, this has not been observed in this species. The diet of this species, which includes insects, may actually help reduce farm pests and crop damage.
Akodon cursor is a mouse that typically occurs in great abundance in open, dry areas. It often preys on small insects and plant material. It may also disperse seeds that are ingested as food. This species also acts as food for larger mammals, snakes, and raptors.
Ecosystem Impact: disperses seeds
Stomach samples from this species have indicated a diverse diet ranging from plant material and seeds to adult and larval coleopterans, lepidopterans, and dipterans.
Animal Foods: insects
Plant Foods: leaves; seeds, grains, and nuts
Primary Diet: omnivore
This species occupies a range from southeastern and central Brazil through Uruguay, Paraguay, and northeastern Argentina.
Biogeographic Regions: neotropical
Akodon cursor is one of the most common species in the forest and forest-grassland ecotones. In Misiones province, Argentina, they are found in a variety of habitats but prefe flat and xeric, semi-deciduous areas. This species also displays spatial partitioning with Akodon montensis. Akodon cursor dominates elevations from 0-800m leaving Akodon montensis to dominate elevations exceeding 800m. Populations of Akodon cursor flourish in dry, open areas with little human influence.
Range elevation: 0 to 800 m.
Habitat Regions: tropical ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: savanna or grassland ; forest ; scrub forest
There is little information on longevity in Akodon cursor. It is likely that most mortality occurs during their first year and that they are unlikely to reach their third year.
Akodon cursor is a medium sized, vole-like mouse, with short limbs, and a short tail. The pelage is soft and full with a reddish brown to olive brown color dorsally, fading to more of a tan on the sides and gradually becoming a reddish tan to gray washed with orange on the venter. The tail is sparsely haired and almost bicolored. The feet are tan and the face shows some blackish hairs. Juveniles weigh around 30g for females and 28g for males. The sub-adult class contains females ranging from 30g-40g and males ranging from 28g-45g. Adult males weigh around 45g and adult females can weigh greater than 40g.
Range mass: 40 to 45 g.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism: male larger
Akodon cursor blends well with it's environment and utilizes ground cover and brush to hide from predators. A variety of raptors and carnivores feed on this species.
Known Predators:
Anti-predator Adaptations: cryptic
There is little information on mating in Akodon cursor.
Breeding season is typically from September to March, however, this species will breed year round opportunistically if conditions are right. Reproduction is also tied to habitat availability. During the rainy season habitat is lost to flooding and scarcity of litter and understory. Most births usually occur in dry periods but reproductive patterns are not distinct. As a result most juveniles are present during periods of low precipitation. The litter size is usually three and average gestation time of other Akodon species is 23 days. Young are weaned at about 14 days old in other Akodon species. Akodon cursor will occasionally hybridize with other species of the same genus including Akodon montensis. Many females retain a copulatory plug to indicate they have mated. For males, sexual maturity occurs at 32-37 days old and at 28g. For females, sexual maturity is delayed to around 42 days or at a weight of 30g. Overall, this species has a short life expectancy, short gestation time, and early maturity which results in rapid population turnover and quick responses to environmental variation. Delayed implantation is thought to occur in some species of Akodon and may occur in Akodon cursor as well.
Breeding interval: Breeding occurs continually during conditions appropriate for breeding, as few as twice yearly or as often as every month.
Breeding season: Breeding typically occurs from September to March, but may occur year-round.
Average number of offspring: 3.
Average gestation period: 23 days.
Average weaning age: 14 days.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 42 days.
Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 32 to 37 days.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; year-round breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; viviparous ; delayed implantation
Young are nursed and cared by their mother for until they are weaned at about 14 days old.
Parental Investment: altricial ; female parental care
The cursor grass mouse or cursorial akodont (Akodon cursor), is a sigmodontine rodent from South America.[2]
The cursor grass mouse is a moderately sized rodent, with a head-body length of 11 to 13 centimetres (4.3 to 5.1 in), and a tail 8 to 11 centimetres (3.1 to 4.3 in) long. Males are larger than females, weighing an average of 54 grams (1.9 oz), compared with 43 g (1.5 oz) for females. They have a typical mouse-like appearance, with short whiskers and stubby claws on the feet. They have dark to golden brown fur over most of their body, with paler greyish or yellowish underparts. Some have a whitish spot between the ears, but this is not present on all individuals.[3]
Cursor grass mice are members of the A. cursor species group, and very similar in appearance to other members of the group. In particular, they cannot easily be distinguished from the closely related montane grass mouse, which inhabits neighbouring regions to the immediate south. Although the cursor grass mouse is, on average, slightly larger than the montane species, there is too much overlap for this to be a reliable guide. Instead, they can most readily be distinguished by the presence of a gall bladder in A. cursor (absent in the montane species), by karyotypic analysis, or by means of PCR based techniques.[3][4][5][6]
The exact geographic range of the cursor grass mouse is disputed. It is definitively known to inhabit eastern Brazil from Paraiba to Paraná, where it lives in patches of tropical Atlantic Forest and restinga scrubland at elevations from sea level to 1,170 metres (3,840 ft). Some sources[1] also report it as being found further south, in extreme southern Brazil, in eastern Paraguay, and in northern Argentina.[7] These latter sources lack a definitive genetic analysis of the individuals identified, and it has been argued that they may represent members of other species, such as the montane grass mouse.[3] No subspecies are recognised.
Cursor grass mice are omnivorous. Their primary diet consists of small arthropods, especially Hymenoptera, beetles, and spiders; this is supplemented by seeds of Cecropia and other plants.[8] They search for food through leaf litter and patches of dense vegetation, and are strictly terrestrial.[9][10] Individuals have a home range of 0.1 to 0.7 hectares (0.25 to 1.73 acres), with the ranges of males being larger than those of females.[11] Although the size of their home ranges does not change, the population density of cursor grass mice becomes significantly higher during the rainy season, when insects are most abundant.[12]
Cursor grass mice breed throughout the year, although most births occur during the dry season between June and September. Pregnant females construct globular nests, and give birth to a litter of two to nine young, with an average of four, after a gestation period of 23 days.[3][13]
This species is particularly important for public health since it has been implied as a Hantavirus reservoir.[14]
A cell line derived from a liposarcoma in a cursor grass mouse has been used by biomedical scientists in the construction of a panel for the identification of human chromosomes in hybrid cells.[15]
The cursor grass mouse or cursorial akodont (Akodon cursor), is a sigmodontine rodent from South America.
