How many baby South African pouched mouses are in a litter?
A South African pouched mouse (Saccostomus campestris) usually gives birth to around 6 babies.
Each of those little ones spend around 20 days as a fetus before they are released into the wild. Upon birth, they weight 2 grams (0 lbs) and measure 3.7 cm (0′ 2″). They are a member of the Muridae family (genus: Saccostomus). An adult South African pouched mouse grows up to a size of 11.7 cm (0′ 5″).
To have a reference: Humans obviously usually have a litter size of one ;). Their babies are in the womb of their mother for 280 days (40 weeks) and reach an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). They weight in at 62 kg (137 lbs), which is obviously highly individual, and reach an average age of 75 years.
The South African pouched mouse or southern African pouched mouse (Saccostomus campestris) is a species of rodent in the family Nesomyidae, which is viewed as actually representing a complex of at least three undescribed species. It is found in southern Africa in Angola, Botswana, DR Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. This species occurs in savanna woodland, as well as various other habitats, at elevations from 50 to 2000 m. It is present in arid regions of Namibia. The rodent is abundant and is tolerant of human disturbance of its habitat.
Other animals of the family Muridae
South African pouched mouse is a member of the Muridae, as are these animals:
- Cotton mouse with 3 babies per pregnancy
- Bunker’s woodrat weighting only 375 grams
- Roraima mouse weighting only 33 grams
- Oldfield mouse with 3 babies per pregnancy
- Atlantic Forest climbing mouse with 3 babies per pregnancy
- Lesser short-tailed gerbil with 4 babies per pregnancy
- Chestnut-bellied spiny rat weighting only 159 grams
- Puna mouse with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Allen’s cotton rat weighting only 174 grams
- Günther’s vole with 6 babies per pregnancy
Animals that share a litter size with South African pouched mouse
Those animals also give birth to 6 babies at once:
- Seven-banded armadillo
- Afghan pika
- New Guinean quoll
- Townsend’s pocket gopher
- Long-tailed weasel
- Perote ground squirrel
- Flat-headed vole
- Bornean bearded pig
- Eurasian water shrew
- Brown antechinus
Animals that get as old as a South African pouched mouse
Other animals that usually reach the age of 2.75 years:
- Highland streaked tenrec with 2.58 years
- Little red kaluta with 3 years
- Long-tailed pygmy possum with 3.17 years
- Red hocicudo with 2.58 years
- White-footed dunnart with 2.5 years
- Narrow-nosed planigale with 3 years
- Eastern woodrat with 3 years
- Common vole with 3 years
- Lesser white-toothed shrew with 2.67 years
- Pen-tailed treeshrew with 2.67 years
Animals with the same weight as a South African pouched mouse
What other animals weight around 50 grams (0.11 lbs)?
- Shortridge’s multimammate mouse weighting 46 grams
- Oecomys concolor weighting 54 grams
- Northern grass mouse weighting 44 grams
- Snow-footed Oldfield mouse weighting 54 grams
- Natal multimammate mouse weighting 49 grams
- Mexican spiny pocket mouse weighting 49 grams
- Flat-headed vole weighting 50 grams
- Euryoryzomys nitidus weighting 55 grams
- El Carrizo deer mouse weighting 40 grams
- Red-tailed phascogale weighting 43 grams
Animals with the same size as a South African pouched mouse
Also reaching around 11.7 cm (0′ 5″) in size do these animals:
- Black-bellied fruit bat gets as big as 9.4 cm (0′ 4″)
- Tullberg’s soft-furred mouse gets as big as 10.1 cm (0′ 4″)
- Wahlberg’s epauletted fruit bat gets as big as 13.1 cm (0′ 6″)
- Northern short-tailed shrew gets as big as 12.1 cm (0′ 5″)
- Van Deusen’s rat gets as big as 13.5 cm (0′ 6″)
- Lesser tree mouse gets as big as 10.9 cm (0′ 5″)
- Duthie’s golden mole gets as big as 10 cm (0′ 4″)
- Masked flying fox gets as big as 13.6 cm (0′ 6″)
- Luzon Cordillera forest mouse gets as big as 10.9 cm (0′ 5″)
- Blind mole gets as big as 12 cm (0′ 5″)