It is hard to guess what a South African pouched mouse weights. But we have the answer:
An adult South African pouched mouse (Saccostomus campestris) on average weights 50 grams (0.11 lbs).
The South African pouched mouse is from the family Muridae (genus: Saccostomus). It is usually born with about 2 grams (0 lbs). They can live for up to 2.75 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 11.7 cm (0′ 5″). Usually, South African pouched mouses have 6 babies per litter.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
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.
Animals of the same family as a South African pouched mouse
We found other animals of the Muridae family:
- Shaw Mayer’s brush mouse with a weight of 111 grams
- Peters’s climbing rat with a weight of 182 grams
- Greater Egyptian gerbil with a weight of 42 grams
- Soft grass mouse with a weight of 30 grams
- Big-eared climbing rat with a weight of 86 grams
- Midday jird with 5 babies per litter
- Black-eared mouse with a weight of 39 grams
- Western shrew mouse with a weight of 21 grams
- Alston’s cotton rat with a weight of 55 grams
- Dusky field rat with a weight of 157 grams
Animals with the same weight as a South African pouched mouse
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Saccostomus campestris:
- Siberian brown lemming bringing 58 grams to the scale
- Mexican mouse opossum bringing 49 grams to the scale
- Hylaeamys yunganus bringing 60 grams to the scale
- Fat-tailed gerbil bringing 47 grams to the scale
- White-throated grass mouse bringing 42 grams to the scale
- Hopi chipmunk bringing 53 grams to the scale
- Brock’s yellow-eared bat bringing 48 grams to the scale
- Greater short-nosed fruit bat bringing 44 grams to the scale
- Highland brush mouse bringing 54 grams to the scale
- Chestnut-striped opossum bringing 45 grams to the scale
Animals with the same size as a South African pouched mouse
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as South African pouched mouse:
- Altiplano grass mouse with a size of 9.7 cm (0′ 4″)
- Asian house shrew with a size of 12.6 cm (0′ 5″)
- Mittendorf’s striped grass mouse with a size of 11.1 cm (0′ 5″)
- Durango chipmunk with a size of 13.4 cm (0′ 6″)
- Fresno kangaroo rat with a size of 9.7 cm (0′ 4″)
- Incan caenolestid with a size of 9.9 cm (0′ 4″)
- Black-bellied fruit bat with a size of 9.4 cm (0′ 4″)
- Gray-collared chipmunk with a size of 12.8 cm (0′ 6″)
- Agile gracile opossum with a size of 9.4 cm (0′ 4″)
- Short-snouted elephant shrew with a size of 11.5 cm (0′ 5″)
Animals with the same litter size as a South African pouched mouse
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (6) as a South African pouched mouse:
- Greater bandicoot rat
- Desert dormouse
- Raccoon dog
- Perote ground squirrel
- Bronze quoll
- Dwarf shrew
- California ground squirrel
- Bornean bearded pig
- Alaskan hare
- Günther’s vole
Animals with the same life expectancy as a South African pouched mouse
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a South African pouched mouse:
- North African elephant shrew with an average maximal age of 3 years
- Tome’s spiny rat with an average maximal age of 2.58 years
- Cape mole-rat with an average maximal age of 3 years
- Little long-tailed dunnart with an average maximal age of 3.17 years
- Dibatag with an average maximal age of 3 years
- Southern Plains woodrat with an average maximal age of 2.25 years
- Field vole with an average maximal age of 3.25 years
- Lowland streaked tenrec with an average maximal age of 2.67 years
- Eastern woodrat with an average maximal age of 3 years
- African wading rat with an average maximal age of 3 years