Gray spiny mouse
Acomys cineraceus Fitzinger & Heuglin, 1866
The gray spiny mouse (Acomys cineraceus) is a species in the family Muridae, order Rodentia. Recorded adults weigh 27 g to 43.6 g and live up to 5 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
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Quick facts about the gray spiny mouse
- Weight
- 27 g – 43.6 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 5 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
Where does the gray spiny mouse live?
Not recorded
What is the gray spiny mouse?
The gray spiny mouse (Acomys cineraceus) is a species of rodent in the family Muridae found in Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are dry savanna, moist savanna, rocky areas, arable land, and rural gardens.
From the Wikipedia article “Gray spiny mouse” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gray_spiny_mouse&oldid=1344744510), 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 gray spiny mouse endangered?
The gray spiny mouse is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the gray spiny mouse classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderRodentia
- familyMuridae
- genusAcomys
- SpeciesAcomys cineraceus Fitzinger & Heuglin, 1866
Synonyms Acomys cinerascens, Acomys cinerasceus, Acomys hystrella, Acomys witherbyi
Other names and names in other languages (8)
- Grey spiny mouseEnglish
- Grey spiny mouseEnglish
- Graue StachelmausGerman
- harmaaokahiiriFinnish
- Rat épineux de HeuglinFrench
- Souris épineuse de HeuglinFrench
- ハイイロトゲマウスJapanese
- kolcomysz szaraPolish
Relatives of the gray spiny mouse
Other species in the same genus Acomys.
Cairo spiny mouse
Acomys cahirinus
Golden spiny mouse
Acomys russatus
Crete spiny mouse
Acomys minous
Asia minor spiny mouse
Acomys cilicicus
Eastern spiny mouse
Acomys dimidiatus
Cape spiny mouse
Acomys subspinosus
CompareGray spiny mouse vs Cairo spiny mouseGray spiny mouse vs Golden spiny mouseGray spiny mouse vs Crete spiny mouseGray spiny mouse vs Asia minor spiny mouse
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the gray spiny mouse?
An adult gray spiny mouse weighs 27 g – 43.6 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the gray spiny mouse endangered?
The gray 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 gray spiny mouse live?
The gray spiny mouse has a recorded lifespan of 5 years.
How long is the gray spiny mouse pregnant?
The recorded gestation period is 38 days.
What kind of animal is the gray spiny mouse?
The gray spiny mouse (Acomys cineraceus) 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.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
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Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Gray spiny mouse (Acomys cineraceus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/gray-spiny-mouse
“Gray spiny mouse (Acomys cineraceus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/gray-spiny-mouse.
@misc{gray_spiny_mouse_2026,
title = {Gray spiny mouse (Acomys cineraceus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/gray-spiny-mouse},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}