| Glirulus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Japanese dormouse (Glirulus japonicus) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Gliridae |
| Subfamily: | Glirinae |
| Genus: | Glirulus Thomas, 1906 |
| Species | |
Glirulus is a genus of dormouse. The only extant species is the Japanese dormouse (Glirulus japonicus) but fossil species indicate that the genus was widespread in Europe in the past. [1] [2]
A dormouse is a rodent of the family Gliridae. Dormice are nocturnal animals found in Africa, Asia, and Europe. They are named for their long, dormant hibernation period of six months or longer.
The Europeanedible dormouse or European fat dormouse is a large dormouse and one of only two living species in the genus Glis, found in most of Europe and parts of western Asia. Its name comes from the Romans, who ate them as a delicacy.
Glis is a genus of rodent that contains two extant species, both known as edible dormice or fat dormice: the European edible dormouse (Glis glis) and the Iranian edible dormouse. It also contains a number of fossil species.
The hazel dormouse or common dormouse is a small mammal and the only living species in the genus Muscardinus.
The Chinese dormouse or Sichuan dormouse is a species of dormouse found in subalpine mixed forests in northern Sichuan, China, where it is known from Jiuzhaigou and Wanglang Nature Reserves. It is known only from two captured female specimens taken in the Wanglang Natural Reserve, and was first described by Wang Youzhi in 1985 and relisted by Corbet and Hill under a new genus as Chaetocauda sichuanensis. It is currently the only member of the genus Chaetocauda. The two specimens had head and body lengths of 90mm and 91mm and tail lengths of 92mm and 102mm, respectively. They weighed 24.5 and 36.0 g. It is nocturnal and arboreal, nesting in trees around 3 metres above the ground, and was found above an altitude of 2500m above sea level. It is classified as endangered by the IUCN as of the 2004 Red List due to its small, isolated habitat.
Dryomys is a genus of dormouse. Collectively the members of the genus are referred to as forest dormice, although the type species also goes by the common name forest dormouse.
The Malabar spiny dormouse is a species of muroid rodent endemic to the Western Ghats of India. It is the only extant species in the genus Platacanthomys and although resembling a dormouse, it is not closely related. About the size of a brown rat, this arboreal species lives in tree holes in dense forest habitats in a small family group. They are distinguishable from other species in the area by their bushy tuft tip to the tail and the spiny fur on the back.
The African dormice are dormice that live throughout sub-Saharan Africa in a variety of habitats. They are very agile climbers and have bushy tails. They eat invertebrates and small vertebrates.
The Chinese pygmy dormouse, is a species of rodent of the family Platacanthomyidae found in China and Vietnam.
The Asian garden dormouse or large-eared garden dormouse, is a species of rodent in the family Gliridae. It is found in Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Turkey. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation, rocky areas and gardens.
Eliomys is a genus of rodent in the family Gliridae.
The Japanese dormouse is a species of rodent in the family Gliridae endemic to Japan. It is the only extant species within the genus Glirulus. Its natural habitat is temperate forests. In Japanese, it is called yamane. Among dormice, it has the special ability of running at great speed upside down, suspended from branches. Its main food is fruit, insects, berries, nuts, and even flowers. It tends to inhabit arboreal nesting sites to avoid interspecific competition with the small Japanese field mouse because of their sympatric relationship.
Myomimus is a genus of rodent in the family Gliridae. It contains the following species:
The desert dormouse is a species of rodent in the dormouse family, Gliridae. This species was formerly placed in its own family, Seleviniidae, but it is now considered to be a dormouse, monotypic within the genus Selevinia. It is endemic to Kazakhstan.
Leithiinae is a subfamily of dormice. It is named after the Leithia, an extinct genus of giant dormouse from the Pleistocene of Sicily.
Seorsumuscardinus is a genus of fossil dormice from the early Miocene of Europe. It is known from zone MN 4 in Oberdorf, Austria; Karydia, Greece; and Tägernaustrasse-Jona, Switzerland, and from zone MN 5 in a single site at Affalterbach, Germany. The MN 4 records are placed in the species S. alpinus and the sole MN 5 record is classified as the species S. bolligeri. The latter was placed in a separate genus, Heissigia, when it was first described in 2007, but it was reclassified as a second species of Seorsumuscardinus in 2009.
Affalterbach is a village (Ortsteil) of the Bavarian municipality of Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm. There is a fossil site about 800 m northwest of the church; the site has been dated to about 16 million years ago on the basis of the presence of the small rodent Megacricetodon aff. bavaricus and the local stratigraphy. The site also contains the dormice Miodyromys aff. aegercii, Glirulus diremptus, Microdyromys cf. complicatus, Prodryomys satus, cf. Bransatoglis sp., Muscardinus cf. sansaniensis, and Seorsumuscardinus bolligeri.
Leithia is a genus of extinct giant dormice from the Mediterranean islands of Malta and Sicily. It is considered an example of island gigantism. Leithia melitensis is the largest known species of dormouse, living or extinct, being twice the size of any other known species.