St Kilda house mouse

Last updated

St Kilda house mouse
MusMuralisSmit.jpg
Extinct  (c. 1930)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Muridae
Genus: Mus
Species:
Subspecies:
M. m. muralis
Trinomial name
Mus musculus muralis
Barrett-Hamilton, 1899

The St Kilda house mouse (Mus musculus muralis) is an extinct subspecies of the house mouse found only on the islands of the St Kilda archipelago of northwest Scotland. [1] They were first described, alongside the St Kilda field mouse, by natural historian Gerald Edwin Hamilton Barrett-Hamilton in 1899. [2]

Contents

Origin

It is uncertain when they first arrived on the islands, but it is possible that they were unwittingly transported there during the Norse period. Isolated on the islands, the St Kilda house mouse diverged from its relatives. It became larger than the mainland varieties, although it had a number of traits in common with a subspecies found on Mykines in the Faroe Islands, Mus musculus mykinessiensis. [3]

Extinction

When the last St Kildans were evacuated in 1930, the endemic house mouse became extinct very quickly, [4] as it was associated strictly with human settlement. Some specimens exist in museums. The St Kilda field mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus hirtensis), a subspecies of the wood mouse, is still present.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House mouse</span> Species of mammal

The house mouse is a small mammal of the order Rodentia, characteristically having a pointed snout, large rounded ears, and a long and almost hairless tail. It is one of the most abundant species of the genus Mus. Although a wild animal, the house mouse has benefited significantly from associating with human habitation to the point that truly wild populations are significantly less common than the semi-tame populations near human activity.

<i>Peromyscus</i> Genus of mammals

Peromyscus is a genus of rodents. They are commonly referred to as deer mice or deermice, not to be confused with the chevrotain or "mouse deer". They are New World mice only distantly related to the common house and laboratory mouse, Mus musculus. From this relative, Peromyscus species are distinguished by relatively larger eyes, and also often two-tone coloring, with darker colors over the dorsum (back), and white abdominal and limb hair-coloring. In reference to the coloring, the word Peromyscus comes from Greek words meaning "booted mouse". They are also accomplished jumpers and runners by comparison to house mice, and their common name of "deer mouse" is in reference to this agility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mykines, Faroe Islands</span> Island in Faroe Islands, Kingdom of Denmark

Mykines is the westernmost of the 18 main islands of the Faroese Archipelago.

<i>Pseudomys</i> Genus of rodents

Pseudomys is a genus of rodent that contains a wide variety of mice native to Australia and New Guinea. They are among the few terrestrial placental mammals that colonised Australia without human intervention.

<i>Mus</i> (genus) Genus of rodents

The genus Mus or typical mice refers to a specific genus of muroid rodents, all typically called mice, though the term can be used for other rodents. They are the only members of the tribe Murini. However, the term mouse can also be applied to species outside of this genus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fauna of the Faroe Islands</span> Animals living in the Faroes

The fauna of the Faroe Islands is characterized by the remote location of the islands in the North Atlantic Ocean. There are few terrestrial species, but an abundance of breeding seabirds and marine animals. Some subspecies and breeds are endemic. All land mammals were introduced by humans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luzon montane forest mouse</span> Species of rodent

The Luzon montane forest mouse is a species of rodent in the family Muridae, from the genus Apomys. It occurs only in the Philippines, where it has been found on the large northern island Luzon. It is most closely related to the large Mindoro forest mouse, which occurs on Mindoro. There may be another related species in the Sierra Madre, but this species is yet undescribed. The Luzon montane forest mouse is a relatively large, ground-dwelling rat with a tail that is quite short for its genus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steppe mouse</span> Species of rodent

The steppe mouse or mound-building mouse is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in grassland and other open areas in Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine and also Albania

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Algerian mouse</span> Species of rodent

The Algerian mouse, also known as the western Mediterranean mouse, is a wild species of mouse closely related to the house mouse, native to open habitats around the western Mediterranean.

The Angel Island mouse, or La Guarda deermouse, is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White-ankled mouse</span> Species of mammal

The white-ankled mouse is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is found in Mexico and in New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ash-grey mouse</span> Species of rodent

The ash-grey mouse is a rodent in the family Muridae. Larger and more robust than Mus musculus, the common house mouse, it is found only in Southwest Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Kilda field mouse</span> Subspecies of rodent

The St Kilda field mouse is a subspecies of the wood mouse that is endemic to the Scottish archipelago of St Kilda, the island 40 miles (64 km) west of Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides, and 100 miles (160 km) from mainland Scotland. Unique to the islands, the mouse is believed to have arrived on the boats of Viking settlers more than a millennium ago. It is not to be confused with the St Kilda house mouse, a subspecies of the house mouse which is now extinct.

<i>Oryzomys antillarum</i> Extinct rodent species from Jamaica

Oryzomys antillarum, also known as the Jamaican rice rat, is an extinct rodent of Jamaica. A member of the genus Oryzomys within the family Cricetidae, it is similar to O. couesi of mainland Central America, from where it may have dispersed to its island during the last glacial period. O. antillarum is common in subfossil cave faunas and is also known from three specimens collected live in the 19th century. Some historical records of Jamaican rats may pertain to it. The species probably became extinct late in the 19th century, perhaps due to the introduction of the small Indian mongoose, competition with introduced rodents such as the brown rat, and habitat destruction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flora and fauna of the Outer Hebrides</span> Plants and wildlife of Scottish island chain

The flora and fauna of the Outer Hebrides in northwest Scotland comprises a unique and diverse ecosystem. A long archipelago, set on the eastern shores of the Atlantic Ocean, it attracts a wide variety of seabirds, and thanks to the Gulf Stream a climate more mild than might be expected at this latitude. Because it is on the Gulf Stream, it also occasionally gets exotic visitors.

Major Gerald Edwin Hamilton Barrett-Hamilton was a British/Irish natural historian, co-author with M. A. C. Hinton of A History of British Mammals, which remained "the most thorough, accurate and scientific publication" on British mammals until the 1950s.

Eleanor Mary Ord Laurie Isserlis was a British mammalogist.

The Japanese house mouse or Japanese wild mouse is a type of house mouse that originated in Japan. Genetically, it is a hybrid between the southeastern Asian house mouse and the eastern European house mouse. It is thus not a unique subspecies, but is treated as such for its characteristic features. It is among the smallest house mice. Different strains such as MSM/Ms, JF1, Japanese waltzing mouse, C57BL/6J and MSKR exist following cross breeding with other house mice, and are used in different genetic and medical investigations.

References

  1. Barrett-Hamilton, GEH (1899). "On the Species of the Genus Mus inhabiting St. Kilda". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London : 77–88.
  2. "Specimen of the week 339: The St Kilda mice | UCL Museums & Collections Blog". blogs.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  3. "The mammals on Mykines". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 27 June 2007.
  4. People and nature on St Kilda

Sources