Spiny Mice Acomys spp.

The Golden Spiny Mouse, Acomys russatus, has golden orange fur on its back and flanks, including stiff guardhairs that give the family the "spiny" name. It is native to hot deserts of Egypt (overlapping with the Cairo Spiny Mouse) and the western Middle East (Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Oman - overlapping with the Eastern or Arabian Spiny Mouse).

It lives in family groups and is mainly nocturnal. It gets moisture from desert plants and insects and can shed its tail as a defence.

 

The Southern African Spiny Mouse, Acomys spinosissimus, is native to moist savanna and rocky habitat of much of southern Africa from Congo and Tanzania to South Africa.