| Armenian birch mouse | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Sminthidae |
| Genus: | Sicista |
| Species: | S. armenica |
| Binomial name | |
| Sicista armenica Sokolov & Baskevich, 1988 | |
The Armenian birch mouse (Sicista armenica) is a species of rodent in the family Sminthidae.
It is a small rodent, like the mouse, the average weight of 10 g and up to 9 cm long, excluding the semi-prehensile tail, which slightly exceeds the length of the body. The body is brown, darker in the upper region.
The species shows nocturnal and feeds on seeds, berries and insects. Shifts in the ground with small jumps and can easily climb on the bushes and trees due to its semi-prehensile tail. The nest, oval shaped, is made of plant remains in a shallow hole dug by the animal itself.
The species is endemic to Armenia, found in mixed forests of coniferous and broadleaf trees in the area upstream of the river Marmarik.
The Zoological Society of London, on the basis of evolutionary uniqueness and smallness of the population, considers Armenian birch mouse one of the 100 species of mammals at greatest risk of extinction.
Dipodoidea is a superfamily of rodents, also known as dipodoids, found across the Northern Hemisphere. This superfamily includes over 50 species among the 16 genera in 3 families. They include the jerboas, jumping mice, and birch mice. Different species are found in grassland, deserts, and forests. They are all capable of saltation, a feature that is most highly evolved in the desert-dwelling jerboas.
The Mount Kahuzi climbing mouse is a rodent found only in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is listed as a critically endangered species due to illegal logging; it is also threatened by fire. Only two specimens have ever been found. Both were found within 100m of each other on Mount Kahuzi. Its body length is 50-100mm and its tail length is 65-132mm. Its habitat is tropical forests, and to navigate these forests it may use its semi-prehensile tail to hold on to tree branches. Its markings are brownish on the top and white to yellow on its underside, with strongly dark rings around its eyes. As with other Dendromus, it has three well defined toes.
The long-tailed birch mouse is a species of birch mouse found in Northeast Asia. It has been reported from the Ussuri region of Manchuria, Sakhalin Island and Primorsky Krai in Russia, and northern North Korea. It is listed as data deficient by the IUCN.
Birch mice are small jumping rodents that resemble mice with long, tufted tails and very long hind legs, allowing for remarkable leaps. They are the only extant members of the family Sminthidae. They are native to Eurasian forests and steppes. All variants possess a long tail of 65 to 110 mm of length and weigh about 6 to 14 g. Head and body length of 50 to 90 mm and hind foot length of 14 to 18 mm. The animal's skin color is light brown or dark-brown to brownish yellow on the upper side and paler on the underside, but generally brownish. Birch mice have a vast geographic distribution in that they inhabit a wide variety of habitats, from semiarid areas to subalpine meadows.
The northern birch mouse is a small rodent about 5 to 8 cm long, weighing 5 to 13 g. It lives in northern Europe and Asia in forest and marsh zones.
The southern birch mouse is a species of birch mouse in the family Dipodidae. It is found on the Balkan Peninsula, Ukraine, Romania, southern Russia and one isolated location in Hungary in the Borsodi Mezőség Protected Landscape Area. The Hungarian subspecies (S. subtilis trizona) is critically endangered and strictly protected. The first living specimen was captured after a 70-year-long hiatus in 2006.
Pogonomys is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae, found in New Guinea and the D'Entrecasteaux Islands, with one species being found also in Australia.
The elegant fat-tailed mouse opossum, also known as the Chilean mouse opossum, is an opossum from central Chile. The type species of Thylamys, it was first described by English naturalist George Robert Waterhouse in 1839. This medium-sized opossum is characterized by black rings around the eyes, white limbs, gray to light brown coat, lighter flanks and underbelly and a thick 12.7–14.6 centimetres (5.0–5.7 in) long tail covered with hairs. It is crepuscular and lives in nests in tree hollows or under rocks and roots. This opossum feeds mainly on arthropods and larvae apart from fruits. Litter size is typically between 11 and 13. The elegant fat-tailed opossum can occur in a variety of habitats – from cloud forests to chaparrals. The IUCN classifies the opossum as least concern.
The Caucasian birch mouse is a species of rodent in the family Sminthidae, that is endemic to Russia. Reports that it occurs in Turkey probably refer to Armenian birch mouse, from which it can only be reliably distinguished on the basis of karyotype. The Caucasian birch mouse inhabits the Western Montane Caucasus area, land situated between the Black sea and the Caspian sea.
The Kazbeg birch mouse is a species of rodent in the family Sminthidae. It is found in Georgia and Russia. Its natural habitat is temperate forests.
The Kluchor birch mouse is a species of rodent in the family Sminthidae. It is endemic to Russia. Its natural habitat is temperate forests.
The Altai birch mouse is a species of rodent in the family Sminthidae. It is native to Russia and Kazakhstan. A baby Altai birch mouse is called a 'pinkie, kitten or pup'. The females are called 'doe' and males 'buck'. A Altai birch mouse group is called a 'nest, colony, harvest, horde or mischief'.
The gray birch mouse is a species of rodent in the family Sminthidae. It is endemic to Kazakhstan, but possibly ranges into China. Its natural habitat is temperate forests.
The Severtzov's birch mouse, or dark birch mouse is a species of rodent in the family Sminthidae. It is endemic to East-European steppes.
Strand's birch mouse is a species of rodent in the family Sminthidae. It is endemic to Russia.
The Tien Shan birch mouse is a species of rodent in the family Sminthidae. It is found in China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
Sminthidae is a family of mouse-like jumping rodents. They are represented by only one extant genus, Sicista, represented by 19 species found throughout most of Eurasia, from central Europe east to Siberia, and south to southern China. However, they were much more diverse and had a much wider range in prehistoric times, having multiple genera and being found not only in Eurasia but also throughout North America, where they existed up to the early Pleistocene. They have a well-attested fossil record which dates as far back as the early Oligocene.
