First record of Little Indian field mouse, Mus booduga (Gray 1837) (Rodentia: Muridae), from cold arid region of Leh-Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, India

摘要

Mus booduga (Gray 1837) is a mesic rodent, recorded for the first time from the cold arid region of Leh-Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, India. The species was collected from crop fields and nearby areas from different altitudes ranging from 3187 to 3768 m above mean sea level. The paper describes the external measurements and diagnostic features of M. booduga collected from Leh-Ladakh region. Earlier records had shown its altitudinal distribution from 250 to 3695 m above mean sea level from Uttarakhand in the Himalayan region, however in the present study the mouse was collected up to an altitude of 3768 m which is the highest elevational record of this species for the Himalayan range.