Steppe mouse | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Rodentia |
Family: | Muridae |
Genus: | Mus |
Species: | M. spicilegus |
Binomial name | |
Mus spicilegus Petényi, 1882 | |
Range of M. spicilegus Extant, resident |
The steppe mouse or mound-building mouse (Mus spicilegus) is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. [2] It is found in grassland and other open areas in Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Montenegro, Slovakia, and Ukraine.
Mus spicilegus ranges from Austria to Southern Ukraine and Greece. [3] [4] Two subspecies are recognised, M. s. spicilegus, the nominate subspecies occupying most of the range, and M. s. adriaticus, an isolated sub-population on the Adriatic coast. It is one of four species of mice in the Mus subgenus with a western Palearctic distribution, the others being the Macedonian mouse (Mus macedonicus) (Balkans to Palestine and Iran), the Algerian mouse (Mus spretus) (Southern France, Iberian Peninsula, Balearic Islands, Morocco to Tunisia) and the Cypriot mouse (Mus cypriacus) . Based on the molecular clock hypothesis, M. spicilegus and M. macedonicus seem to have diverged quite recently, between 0.29 and 0.17 mya, whereas the lineages giving rise to these and M. spretus diverged around 1 mya. [4]
The head-and-body length is between 70 and 80 mm (2.76 and 3.15 in) and the tail is between 55 and 65 mm (2.17 and 2.56 in) long. The colour is mostly a uniform grey with no hint of redness, but some populations are bicoloured and have paler underparts. The tail is more slender than that of other related species. [5] This mouse is very similar in appearance to the common house mouse (Mus musculus), and the two are often confused. The most significant difference is the mound-building proclivities of Mus spicilegus, but these are only apparent at certain times of year. [3]
This species is found in grassland, steppe, cultivated land, orchards, clearings and woodland borders. [1] It is unique among mice in its habit of building mounds in the autumn. These are constructed by a number of mice and can be up to 4 m (13 ft) in diameter, although a more normal size is 1 to 2 m (3 to 7 ft). [6] Some four to fourteen mice cooperate to build the mounds, and these have been shown to be closely related, probably through the mother's line. [6] The mound is built over storage chambers which can hold up to 10 kg (22 lb) of seeds and grains, underneath which is a nesting chamber. Up to twenty mounds per hectare (eight per acre) is typical but there can be many more than this under particularly favourable conditions. [1]
Breeding is seasonal in this mouse, taking place between about March and October. Young females, six to eight months old which have spent the winter in the mound, breed in the spring and may have four or five litters of young during the year; in central Ukraine, the litter size averages 6.7 young. During the summer, most animals live in simple burrows, but some continue to inhabit the mound, and if it survives intact, it may be reused in the autumn for winter quarters. New mounds are constructed between about mid-August and mid-November, when cereal crops are maturing and other plants producing seeds. The construction is done by juveniles, three to four weeks old, and the mound is their winter home, with adults occasionally cohabiting. [5] The mounds usually take two or three weeks to construct, and their size is dependent on the number of animals involved and the abundance of the food supply. The seeds of 84 species of plants have been found stored in the mound. [5]
The steppe mouse is a common species with a wide range, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern" while noting that the intensification of agriculture and destruction of grassy steppe may be a future threat. [1]
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.
The harvest mouse is a small rodent native to Europe and Asia. It is typically found in fields of cereal crops, such as wheat and oats, in reed beds and in other tall ground vegetation, such as long grass and hedgerows. It has reddish-brown fur with white underparts and a naked, highly prehensile tail, which it uses for climbing. It is the smallest European rodent; an adult may weigh as little as 4 grams (0.14 oz). It eats chiefly seeds and insects, but also nectar and fruit. Breeding nests are spherical constructions carefully woven from grass and attached to stems well above the ground.
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.
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.
The wood mouse is a murid rodent native to Europe and northwestern Africa. It is closely related to the yellow-necked mouse but differs in that it has no band of yellow fur around the neck, has slightly smaller ears, and is usually slightly smaller overall: around 90 mm (3.54 in) in length and 23 g in weight. It is found across most of Europe and is a very common and widespread species, is commensal with people and is sometimes considered a pest. Other common names are long-tailed field mouse, field mouse, common field mouse, and European wood mouse. This species is a known potential carrier of the Dobrava sequence of hantavirus which affects humans and may pose serious risks to human health.
Peromyscus maniculatus is a rodent native to eastern North America. It is most commonly called the eastern deer mouse; when formerly grouped with the western deer mouse, it was referred to as the North American deermouse and is fairly widespread across most of North America east of the Mississippi River, with the major exception being the lowland southeastern United States.
The bobak marmot, also known as the steppe marmot, is a species of marmot that inhabits the steppes of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. It is a social animal and inhabits steppe grassland, including cultivated field borders. It hibernates for more than half the year. Litter sizes average about five offspring and it takes three years for the young marmots to reach sexual maturity. Male offspring leave the home colony after their second winter, and about 60% of mature females give birth in any one year.
The western harvest mouse is a small neotomine mouse native to most of the western United States. Many authorities consider the endangered salt marsh harvest mouse to be a subspecies, but the two are now usually treated separately.
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.
The cursor grass mouse, or cursorial akodont, is a sigmodontine rodent from South America.
The hispid pocket mouse is a large pocket mouse native to the Great Plains region of North America. It is a member of the genus Chaetodipus.
The northern pygmy mouse is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is known as ratón-pigmeo norteño in the Spanish-speaking areas of its range. It is found in Mexico and the United States. It is the smallest rodent in North America.
The grey dwarf hamster, grey hamster or migratory hamster is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. Its range extends from Eastern Europe through the Middle East, Russia and Central Asia to Mongolia and western China. The grey dwarf hamster has grey fur and a head-body length ranging from 85 to 120 mm. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of "least concern".
The Macedonian mouse is a species of rodent in the family Muridae and order Rodentia. This rodent occurs in the south Balkans, Asia Minor, the Caucasus and the Middle East south to Israel and Jordan and east to Iran. It is considered part of a Palearctic group along with three other species: the house mouse, steppe mouse, and Algerian mouse.
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 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.
The Great Basin pocket mouse is a species of rodent in the family Heteromyidae. It is found in British Columbia in Canada and the western United States.
The Pacific jumping mouse is a species of rodent in the family Zapodidae. Found in Canada and the United States, its natural habitats are temperate grassland and swamps.
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.
Mus is a subgenus of the rodent genus Mus.