Morphological cranial study and habitat preference of Mus macedonicus (Petrov & Ruzic,1983) (Mammalia: Rodentia) in Lebanon

Fifteen sherman live traps were set at 20 different locations along ibrahim river in mount lebanon. the 1500 trap nights resulted in trapping 15 mus macedonicus. morphological and cranial measurements were similar to those recorded in other countries except for the length of the head,body and tail that were moderately larger in the lebanese specimens. most animals were caught at an altitude above 800m asl. 53% were caught in the agriculture zone very close to cultivated fields,while the rest were recovered in mediterranean landscape of tall grasses and bushes. hence,further molecular assessment is recommended for the taxonomic status of lebanese species. © 2017 jordan journal of biological sciences.