Cyprus spiny mouse

The Cyprus spiny mouse (Acomys nesiotes) is a small rodent found only on the island of Cyprus. Dorothea Bate described it in 1903 from specimens caught in the Kyrenia Mountains. It lives in two separate populations, one in the Troodos Mountains in the south and one in the Kyrenia Mountains in the north, with the Mesaoria Plain between them. The animals are nocturnal and favour rocky ground and limestone with macchia shrubland and scanty woodland at elevations of up to 1,220 metres, sometimes close to villages, where they shelter in rock crevices and cowsheds. The dorsal fur is dark grey and the underside white, and the grey bristles of the coat are spiny with dark tips. Carob leaves and bark and snails are recorded as food. After the last confirmed record in 1980 no significant surveys took place until four individuals were found again in 2007. Genetic work suggests the population may be a form of Acomys cahirinus introduced by people, but pending further taxonomic study it is kept as a valid species, and the IUCN lists it as Data Deficient.