Eastern spiny mouse

The eastern spiny mouse, Acomys dimidiatus, also called the Arabian spiny mouse, is a rodent of the family Muridae with a wide range across Middle Eastern deserts and riverine forests in Africa. It is a small animal with a head and body length of up to 17.5 centimetres, a tail of up to 12.5 centimetres and a maximum weight of about 90 grams. Its coarse fur is dark tan with grey tips, and it is the only spiny mouse that may be black. Its range runs from the Sinai Peninsula through Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Israel to the Arabian Peninsula, southern Iraq, southern Iran and southern Pakistan, in semi-arid or arid regions, dry forests and rocky scrub at altitudes of up to 1200 metres. It is nocturnal and sociable, living in small groups and foraging for seeds and sometimes insects and grasses, and another female of the group may help to care for the young. It can shed its tail to escape a predator, lives up to five years in captivity, and is listed by the IUCN as of least concern.