Earth-colored mouse

Earth-colored mouse
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1) [1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Muridae
Genus:	Mus
Species:	M. terricolor
Binomial name
Mus terricolor Blyth, 1851
Synonyms
Mus dunni

The earth-colored mouse (Mus terricolor) is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in India, possibly Indonesia, Nepal, and Pakistan. The earth-colored mouse lives in cultivated fields in raised moist mounds of Earth, where they burrow and locate their nest about 20 cm or 8 inches deep. ^[2] Living in a raised mound of soil offers them more oxygen flow from air coming through the surrounding sides as well as from above. In contrast, their co-existing sibling species Mus booduga burrow in the flat parts of the field, which allows for niche differentiation.

References

1. Aplin, K. (2008). "Mus terricolor". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2008 e.T13987A4379161. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T13987A4379161.en .
2. Singh, S., Cheong, N., Narayan, G., Sharma, T. Burrow characteristics of the co-existing sibling species Mus booduga and Mus terricolor and the genetic basis of adaptation to hypoxic/hypercapnic stress. BMC Ecology, (2009).

• Musser, G. G.; Carleton, M. D. (2005). "Superfamily Muroidea". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 894–1531. ISBN   978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC   62265494.