Mt. Banahaw Tree-mouse - Philippine Wildlife Art

Mt Banahaw tree-mouse Musseromys gulantang

Mice and rats tend to be seen as dirty pests that live in and around our waste or homes. But did you know that our country has a cute native mouse that lives only in certain forests? If you love trees, you’ll also love the tree-mouse… the Mt. Banahaw Tree-mouse!

Unlike Mickey Mouse, the Mt. Banahaw Tree-mouse is much, much older, and exists in real life! It has orange-like fur, and super long whiskers that help it feel around the trees and vines at night.

It is one of 5 species found ONLY on Mt. Banahaw and nowhere else in the world. This is more local endemics on one mountain then there are in many countries.

This artwork and research is dedicated to the late Danilo Balete

Danilo Balete was involved in the discovery of more than half of the known small mammals in the Philippines ¹. Originally from Bicol, Balete introduced conservation measures on Mt. Isarog with the Haribon Foundation, and later worked on the Philippines mammal project of The Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois in the United States ².

The species name beneficus is from the Latin for “beneficial”. It is in dedication to the benefactor who funded Balete’s high school and college education, and supported his interest in Philippine wildlife ³.

Danilo Balete passed away in 2017.

“It is extraordinary that so many new species of mammals remain to be discovered in the Philippines… In the past 10 years we’ve published formal descriptions of 10 other species, and other biologists have described five more. And we are nowhere close to the end of our discoveries. The Philippines may have the greatest concentration of unique species of animals of any country in the world.”
Danilo Balete, in an article in the ScienceDaily, “Seven new species of mammals discovered on Luzon, Philippines” (2011).