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Goodwin's brush‐tailed mouse (Calomyscus elburzensis Goodwin, 1939) is a poorly known small rodent that occupies rocky habitats in Iran, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, and Syria. Herein, a detailed description of the shape, size, and function of the postcranial skeleton of this species is presented for the first time. Trapping was carried out in eastern Iran between the years 2013 and 2015. Skeletal parts of 24 adult male specimens were removed using the papain digestion protocol, and several postcranial morphological characteristics and measurements were examined. We attempted to achieve a morpho‐functional characterization of Goodwin's brush‐tailed mouse and to match morphological specializations with previous information on the ecology, behavior, and phylogenetic inferences of this rodent. Goodwin's brush‐tailed mouse has extended transverse processes and long zygapophyses in the first five caudal vertebrae along with a good innervation of the caudal vertebrae, which has resulted in a well‐developed basal musculature of the tail. It has extended forelimb, long ilium, and short post‐acetabular part of the innominate bone, loose hip joint with high degree of lateral movement of the hindlimb, and long distal elements of the hindlimb. These features have resulted in fast terrestrial movements in open microhabitats, including climbing and jumping. Although superficial scratching of the ground is observed, the species is incapable of digging burrows. Evaluation of postcranial morphological characteristics and character states further indicated the basal radiation of the genus Calomyscus among other Muroidea. Findings constitute a source of information for morpho‐functional and phylogenetic comparisons between Calomyscidae and other mouse‐like muroids. Research Highlights: Postcranial morphological specializations of Calomyscus elburzensis were matched with information on its ecology and phylogeny.Findings constitute a data set for morpho‐functional and phylogenetic comparisons between Calomyscidae and other rodents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brush-tailed mice (family Calomyscidae) are small rodents found on the Iranian plateau and surrounding areas. To date, little discussion of the ecological aspects, habitat suitability and niche differentiation has been provided for members of this family. Herein, to model the potential distributions and describe habitat preferences of Calomyscus elburzensis and C. hotsoni, the maximum entropy modelling (MaxEnt) approach was used based on data collected through field expeditions, review of the literature and various databases. Species distribution modelling showed that minimal temperature of the coldest month and precipitation of the coldest quarter were the most important factors in predicting the distribution of C. elburzensis. However, occurrence of C. hotsoni was affected greatly by isothermality and annual precipitation. The mountainous regions in northeastern Iran, the central portions of the Elburz Mts, and the eastern hillsides of the Zagros Mts were identified as the most suitable habitats for C. elburzensis, whereas the western parts of South Khorasan province, the forest steppes in the southeast of Iran, and the southwestern extension of the Jebal Barez Mts in central Iran were highly suitable for C. hotsoni. Measurement of ecological niche overlaps showed low similarity between the niches of these two species. Nevertheless, the modelling identified areas of suitable habitat in the north centre parts of both South Khorasan and Kerman provinces where both or either of these species could occur. Moreover, C. elburzensis inhabited cold mountains, Mediterranean, and cold semi-desert climatic conditions, whereas C. hotsoni was generally showed high level of habitat suitability to hot dry desert and hot semi-desert climatic conditions. C. elburzensis mainly inhabits forest steppe and semi-desert biotopes, whereas C. hotsoni occupies desert lowlands in addition to forest steppe and semi-desert biotopes. Further studies are needed to resolve the distribution of each species and to follow their interactions in potential contact zones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]