Muridae

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Muridae
Temporal range: Early Miocene – Recent [1]
Mouse white background.jpg
House mouse, Mus musculus
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Superfamily: Muroidea
Family: Muridae
Illiger, 1811
Type genus
Mus
Linnaeus, 1758
Subfamilies

The Muridae, or murids, are either the largest or second-largest family of rodents and of mammals, containing approximately 870 species, including many species of mice, rats, and gerbils found naturally throughout Eurasia, Africa, and Australia. [2]

Contents

The name Muridae comes from the Latin mus (genitive muris ), meaning "mouse", since all true mice belong to the family, with the more typical mice belonging to the genus Mus .

Distribution and habitat

Murids are found nearly everywhere in the world, though many subfamilies have narrower ranges. Murids are not found in Antarctica or many oceanic islands. Although none of them are native to the Americas, a few species, notably the house mouse and black rat, have been introduced worldwide. Murids occupy a broad range of ecosystems from tropical forests to tundras. Fossorial, arboreal, and semiaquatic murid species occur, though most are terrestrial animals. [3] The extensive list of niches filled by murids helps to explain their relative abundance.

Diet and dentition

A broad range of feeding habits is found in murids, ranging from herbivorous and omnivorous species to specialists that consume strictly earthworms, certain species of fungi, or aquatic insects. [3] Most genera consume plant matter and small invertebrates, often storing seeds and other plant matter for winter consumption. Murids have sciurognathous jaws (an ancestral character in rodents) and a diastema is present. [4] Murids lack canines and premolars. Generally, three molars (though sometimes only one or two) are found, and the nature of the molars varies by genus and feeding habit.

Reproduction

Some murids are highly social, while others are solitary. Females commonly produce several litters annually. In warm regions, breeding may occur year-round. Though the lifespans of most genera are generally less than two years, murids have high reproductive potential and their populations tend to increase rapidly and then drastically decline when food resources have been exhausted. This is often seen in a three- to four-year cycle. [5]

Characteristics

The murids are small mammals, typically around 10 cm (3.9 in) long excluding the tail, but ranging from 4.5 to 8 cm (1.8 to 3.1 in) in the African pygmy mouse to 50 cm (20 in) in the northern Luzon giant cloud rat. They typically have slender bodies with scaled tails longer than the body, and pointed snouts with prominent whiskers, but with wide variation in these broad traits. Some murids have elongated legs and feet to allow them to move with a hopping motion, while others have broad feet and prehensile tails to improve their climbing ability, and yet others have neither adaptation. They are most commonly some shade of brown in color, although many have black, grey, or white markings. [6]

Murids generally have excellent senses of hearing and smell. They live in a wide range of habitats from forest to grassland, and mountain ranges. A number of species, especially the gerbils, are adapted to desert conditions and can survive for a long time with minimal water. They consume a wide range of foods depending on the species, with the aid of powerful jaw muscles and gnawing incisors that grow throughout life. The dental formula of murids is 1.0.0.1-31.0.0.1-3.

Murids breed frequently, often producing large litters several times per year. They typically give birth between twenty and forty days after mating, although this varies greatly between species. The young are typically born blind, hairless, and helpless, although exceptions occur, such as in spiny mice. [6]

Evolution

As with many other small mammals, the evolution of the murids is not well known, as few fossils survive. They probably evolved from hamster-like animals in tropical Asia some time in the early Miocene, and have only subsequently produced species capable of surviving in cooler climates. They have become especially common worldwide during the current geological epoch, as a result of hitching a ride commensally with human migrations. [7] [8] [9] [10]

Classification

The murids are classified in five subfamilies, around 150 genera, and about 834 species. [11]

Subfamilies [12]

In literature

A print showing cats and mice from a 1501 German edition of Aesop's fables Steinhowel cat.gif
A print showing cats and mice from a 1501 German edition of Aesop's fables

Murids feature in literature, including folk tales and fairy stories. In the Pied Piper of Hamelin , retold in many versions since the 14th century, including one by the Brothers Grimm, a rat-catcher lures the town's rats into the river, but the mayor refuses to pay him. In revenge, the rat-catcher lures away all the children of the town, never to return. [13] Mice feature in some of Beatrix Potter's small books, including The Tale of Two Bad Mice (1904), The Tale of Mrs Tittlemouse (1910), The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse (1918), and The Tailor of Gloucester (1903), which last was described by J. R. R. Tolkien as perhaps the nearest to his idea of a fairy story, the rest being "beast-fables". [14] Among Aesop's Fables are The Cat and the Mice and The Frog and the Mouse . [15] In James Herbert's first novel, The Rats , (1974), a vagrant is attacked and eaten alive by a pack of giant rats; further attacks follow. [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mouse</span> Small long-tailed rodent

A mouse is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse. Mice are also popular as pets. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are locally common. They are known to invade homes for food and shelter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muroidea</span> Superfamily of rodents

The Muroidea are a large superfamily of rodents, including mice, rats, voles, hamsters, lemmings, gerbils, and many other relatives. Although the Muroidea originated in Eurasia, they occupy a vast variety of habitats on every continent except Antarctica. Some authorities have placed all members of this group into a single family, Muridae, due to difficulties in determining how the subfamilies are related to one another. Many of the families within the Muroidea superfamily have more variations between the families than between the different clades. A possible explanation for the variations in rodents is because of the location of these rodents; these changes could have been due to radiation or the overall environment they migrated to or originated in. The following taxonomy is based on recent well-supported molecular phylogenies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cricetidae</span> Family of rodents

The Cricetidae are a family of rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. It includes true hamsters, voles, lemmings, muskrats, and New World rats and mice. At over 870 species, it is either the largest or second-largest family of mammals, and has members throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spalacidae</span> Family of rodents

The Spalacidae, or spalacids, are a family of rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. They are native to eastern Asia, the Horn of Africa, the Middle East, and southeastern Europe. It includes the blind mole-rats, bamboo rats, mole-rats, and zokors. This family represents the oldest split in the muroid superfamily, and comprises animals adapted to a subterranean way of life. These rodents were thought to have evolved adaptations to living underground independently until recent genetic studies demonstrated they form a monophyletic group. Members of the Spalacidae are often placed in the family Muridae along with all other members of the Muroidea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nesomyidae</span> Family of rodents

The Nesomyidae are a family of African rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. It includes several subfamilies, all of which are native to either continental Africa or to Madagascar. Included in this family are Malagasy rodents, climbing mice, African rock mice, swamp mice, pouched rats, and the white-tailed rat.

The white-tailed rat also known as the white-tailed mouse, is the only member of the subfamily Mystromyinae in the family Nesomyidae. This species is sometimes placed in the subfamily Cricetinae due to similarities in appearance between the white-tailed rat and hamsters, but molecular phylogenetic studies have confirmed that the two groups are not closely related. The subfamily Mystromyinae is sometimes placed within the family Muridae along with all other subfamilies of muroids.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eumuroida</span> Clade of rodents

The Eumuroida are a clade defined in 2004 by Steppan et al. to describe a group of muroid rodents. The clade is not defined in the standard taxonomic hierarchy, but it is between superfamily and family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pouched rat</span> Subfamily of rodents

Pouched rats are a group of African rodents in the subfamily Cricetomyinae. They are members of the family Nesomyidae, which contains other African muroids such as climbing mice, Malagasy mice, and the white-tailed rat. All nesomyids are in the superfamily Muroidea, a large and complex clade containing 1⁄4 of all mammal species. Sometimes the pouched rats are placed in the family Muridae along with all other members of the superfamily Muroidea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dendromurinae</span> Subfamily of rodents

Dendromurinae is a subfamily of rodents in the family Nesomyidae and superfamily Muroidea. The dendromurines are currently restricted to Africa, as is the case for all extant members of the family Nesomyidae. The authorship of the subfamily has been attributed to both Alston, 1876, and (incorrectly) to G. M. Allen, 1939.

<i>Spalax</i> Genus of rodents

Spalax is a genus of rodent in the family Spalacidae, subfamily Spalacinae. It is one of two extant genera in the subfamily Spalacinae, alongside Nannospalax.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nesomyinae</span> Subfamily of rodents

The Malagasy rodents are the sole members of the subfamily Nesomyinae. These animals are the only native rodents of Madagascar, come in many shapes and sizes, and occupy a wide variety of ecological niches. There are nesomyines that resemble gerbils, rats, mice, voles, and even rabbits. There are arboreal, terrestrial, and semi-fossorial varieties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murinae</span> Subfamily of rodents

The Old World rats and mice, part of the subfamily Murinae in the family Muridae, comprise at least 519 species. Members of this subfamily are called murines. In terms of species richness, this subfamily is larger than all mammal families except the Cricetidae and Muridae, and is larger than all mammal orders except the bats and the remainder of the rodents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deomyinae</span> Subfamily of rodents

The subfamily Deomyinae consists of four genera of mouse-like rodents that were previously placed in the subfamilies Murinae and Dendromurinae. They are sometimes called the Acomyinae, particularly in references that antedate the discovery that the link rat, Deomys ferugineus, is part of the clade. Deomyinae is the older name and therefore has priority over Acomyinae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New World rats and mice</span> Rodents native to the Americas

The New World rats and mice are a group of related rodents found in North and South America. They are extremely diverse in appearance and ecology, ranging from the tiny Baiomys to the large Kunsia. They represent one of the few examples of muroid rodents in North America, and the only example of muroid rodents to have made it into South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tylomyinae</span> Subfamily of rodents

The subfamily Tylomyinae consists of several species of New World rats and mice including the vesper and climbing rats. They are not as well known as their relatives in the subfamilies Sigmodontinae and Neotominae. Many authorities place all three of these subfamilies in a single subfamily, Sigmodontinae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spiny mouse</span> Genus of rodents

The term spiny mouse refers to any species of rodent within the genus Acomys. Similar in appearance to mice of the genus Mus, spiny mice are small mammals with bare tails which contain osteoderms, a rare feature in mammals. Their coats are endowed with unusually stiff guard hairs similar to the spines of a hedgehog; this trait is the source of the common name, spiny mouse.

<i>Apodemus</i> Genus of rodents

Apodemus is a genus of Muridae. The name is unrelated to that of the Mus genus, instead being derived from the Greek ἀπό-δημος.

Petromyscus is a genus of rodent in the family Nesomyidae. It is so distinct from other rodents that it is placed as the only genus in subfamily Petromyscinae. In previous classifications, Delanymys brooksi has also been placed in the subfamily. They are found in southwestern Africa. These animals have a sharp lower point to their V-shaped infraorbital canal. Their molars are intermediate between the ancestral cricetid style tooth and the dendromurine style tooth.

Hotson's mouse-like hamster also known as Hotson's calomyscus or Hotson's brush-tailed mouse is a species of rodent in the family Calomyscidae. It is endemic to southwestern Pakistan and southeastern Iran.

Praomyini is a tribe of muroid rodents in the subfamily Murinae. Species in this tribe are found mostly throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, but one species is found in North Africa, and another is found in the Arabian Peninsula.

References

  1. ↑ Aghova, Tatiana; Kimura, Yuri; Bryja, Josef; Dobigny, Gauthier; Granjon, Laurent; Kergoat, Gael J. (2017). "Fossils know it best: using a new set of fossil calibrations to improve the temporal phylogenetic framework of murid rodents (Rodentia: Myomorpha: Muroidea: Muridae)" (PDF): 16. doi:10.1101/180398. S2CID   38794026 . Retrieved 29 August 2018.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. ↑ Basic Biology (2015). "Rodents".
  3. 1 2 "ADW: Subfamilies of Muridae". animaldiversity.org. Retrieved 2015-11-08.
  4. ↑ "Muridae (Old World mice and rats, gerbils, whistling rats, and relatives)". Animal Diversity Web. Retrieved 2015-11-08.
  5. ↑ Nowak, Ronald M. (1999-04-07). Walker's Mammals of the World. JHU Press. ISBN   9780801857898.
  6. 1 2 Berry, R. J.; Årgren, G. (1984), Macdonald, D. (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Mammals , New York: Facts on File, pp.  658–663 & 674–677, ISBN   0-87196-871-1
  7. ↑ Savage, R. J. G.; Long, M. R. (1986), Mammal Evolution: an Illustrated Guide, New York: Facts on File, p.  124, ISBN   0-8160-1194-X
  8. ↑ Jansa, Sharon. A.; Weksler, Marcelo (2004), "Phylogeny of muroid rodents: relationships within and among major lineages as determined by IRBP gene sequences" (PDF), Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution , 31 (1): 256–276, doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2003.07.002, PMID   15019624, archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-12-17
  9. ↑ Michaux, Johan; Reyes, Aurelio; Catzeflis, François (1 November 2001), "Evolutionary history of the most speciose mammals: molecular phylogeny of muroid rodents", Molecular Biology and Evolution , 18 (11): 2017–2031, doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a003743 , ISSN   0737-4038, PMID   11606698, archived from the original on 27 November 2005
  10. ↑ Steppan, Scott; Adkins, Ronald; Anderson, Joel (2004), "Phylogeny and divergence-date estimates of rapid radiations in muroid rodents based on multiple nuclear genes" (PDF), Systematic Biology , 53 (4): 533–553, doi:10.1080/10635150490468701, PMID   15371245
  11. ↑ Burgin, C. J., Colella, J. P., Kahn, P. L. & Upham, N. S. How many species of mammals are there? J. Mammal. 99, 1–14 (2018)
  12. ↑ Steppan, S. J. & Schenk, J. J. Muroid rodent phylogenetics: 900-Species tree reveals increasing diversification rates. PLoS One 12, e0183070 (2017)
  13. ↑ Mieder, Wolfgang (2007). The Pied Piper: A Handbook. Greenwood. pp. 71 and passim. ISBN   978-0-313-33464-1.[ permanent dead link ]
  14. ↑ Tolkien, J. R. R. (2001). On Fairy-Stories. HarperCollins. p. 16. ISBN   0-007-10504-5.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  15. ↑ Gibbs, Laura (2002–2008). "Aesopica". MythFolklore.net. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  16. ↑ Holland, Steve (21 March 2013). "James Herbert obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
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