NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Brant's Climbing Mouse
Dendromus mesomelas (Brants, 1827)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Dendromus mesomelas
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Open encyclopedia reference
Brants's climbing mouse (Dendromus mesomelas) is a species of rodent in the family Nesomyidae.
It is found in Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia.
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, dry savanna, Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation, and subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland. It has a total length of about 17 cm and weighs 14 grams. Their litters are born in summer (December to February); a litter has 2-8 pups. Their diet consists primarily of seeds and insects.
Wikipedia contributors, Brants's climbing mouse; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T09:39:48.404186+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Dendromus mesomelas (Brants, 1827)
- Name authority
- (Brants, 1827)
- Common name
- Brant's Climbing Mouse
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Rodentia
- Family
- Nesomyidae
- Genus
- Dendromus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderRodentia Bowdich, 1821
- suborderMyomorpha Brandt, 1855
- superfamilyMuroidea Illiger, 1811
- familyNesomyidae Forsyth Major, 1897
- subfamilyDendromurinae G. M. Allen, 1939
- genusDendromus A. Smith, 1829
- speciesDendromus mesomelas (Brants, 1827)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Dendromus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Montane African Climbing MouseDendromus insignis (Thomas, 1903) | NesomyidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Lovat's African Climbing MouseDendromus lovati (de Winton, 1900) | NesomyidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Gray African Climbing MouseDendromus melanotis (A. Smith, 1834) | NesomyidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Chestnut African Climbing MouseDendromus mystacalis (Heuglin, 1863) | NesomyidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Kivu African Climbing MouseDendromus nyasae Thomas, 1916 | NesomyidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Vernay's African Climbing MouseDendromus vernayi Hill & Carter, 1937 | NesomyidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Mt Kahuzi African Climbing MouseDendromus kahuziensis Dieterlen, 1969 | NesomyidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Monard's African Climbing MouseDendromus leucostomus Monard, 1933 | NesomyidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Banana African Climbing MouseDendromus messorius (Thomas, 1903) | NesomyidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Cameroon African Climbing MouseDendromus oreas Osgood, 1936 | NesomyidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Dendromus typus A. Smith, 1829 A. Smith, 1829 | synonym |
| Dendromus ayresi Roberts, 1913 Roberts, 1913 | synonym |
| Dendromus typicus A. Smith, 1834 A. Smith, 1834 | synonym |
| Dendromys pumilio Wagner, 1841 Wagner, 1841 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=632707 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:6CJHM. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.