CreatureData

Cairo spiny mouse

Acomys cahirinus (É. Geoffroy, 1803)

LCLeast Concernrodents

The cairo spiny mouse (Acomys cahirinus) is a species in the family Muridae, order Rodentia. Recorded adults weigh 27 g to 52.5 g and live up to 5.45 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Cairo spiny mouse (Acomys cahirinus)
Photo: Mickey Samuni-Blank · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the cairo spiny mouse

Weight
27 g – 52.5 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
5.45 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Herbivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
7.48 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Gestation
38 dayssrc for Gestation
Young per litter or clutch
2.47src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
58.5 dayssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
3.5src for Litters or clutches a year
Active
At night (nocturnal)src for Active
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Photos of the cairo spiny mouse

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

1 more photo exists under a licence we cannot display: view at source.

Where does the cairo spiny mouse live?

Not recorded

What is the cairo spiny mouse?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The Cairo spiny mouse (Acomys cahirinus), also known as the common spiny mouse, Egyptian spiny mouse, or Arabian spiny mouse, is a nocturnal species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in Africa north of the Sahara Desert, where its natural habitats are rocky areas and hot deserts. It is omnivorous, feeding on seeds, desert plants, snails, and insects. It is a gregarious animal and lives in small family groups. It is the first and only known rodent species that exhibit spontaneous decidualization and menstruation.

From the Wikipedia article “Cairo spiny mouse” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cairo_spiny_mouse&oldid=1368874551), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the cairo spiny mouse endangered?

The cairo spiny mouse is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the cairo spiny mouse classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classMammalia
  4. orderRodentia
  5. familyMuridae
  6. genusAcomys
  7. SpeciesAcomys cahirinus (É. Geoffroy, 1803)

Synonyms Acomys cahirinus, Acomys cahirinus helmyi, Acomys dimidiatus megalodus, Acomys hunteri, Acomys sabryi, Acomys viator, Mus cahirinus

Other names and names in other languages (6)
  • Greater Wilfred's mouseEnglish
  • Greater Wilfred's mouseEnglish
  • Greater Wilfred’s mouseEnglish
  • Northeast African spiny mouseEnglish
  • Northeast African spiny mouseEnglish
  • Ägyptische StachelmausGerman

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the cairo spiny mouse

Other species in the same genus Acomys.

CompareCairo spiny mouse vs Golden spiny mouseCairo spiny mouse vs Crete spiny mouseCairo spiny mouse vs Asia minor spiny mouseCairo spiny mouse vs Eastern spiny mouse

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the cairo spiny mouse?

An adult cairo spiny mouse weighs 27 g – 52.5 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the cairo spiny mouse endangered?

The cairo spiny mouse is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

How long does the cairo spiny mouse live?

The cairo spiny mouse has a recorded lifespan of 5.45 years.

How long is the cairo spiny mouse pregnant?

The recorded gestation period is 38 days.

What kind of animal is the cairo spiny mouse?

The cairo spiny mouse (Acomys cahirinus) belongs to the family Muridae in the order Rodentia.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Cairo spiny mouse (Acomys cahirinus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/cairo-spiny-mouse

MLA

“Cairo spiny mouse (Acomys cahirinus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/cairo-spiny-mouse.

BibTeX
@misc{cairo_spiny_mouse_2026,
  title = {Cairo spiny mouse (Acomys cahirinus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/cairo-spiny-mouse},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}