Cursor Grass Mouse - Biology and Behaviour

Biology and Behaviour

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. They search for food through leaf litter and patches of dense vegetation, and are strictly terrestrial. Individuals have a home range of 0.1 to 0.7 hectares (0.25 to 1.7 acres), with the ranges of males being larger than those of females. 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.

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.

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.