Zapodidae Temporal range: | |
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Zapus hudsonius preblei | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Rodentia |
Superfamily: | Dipodoidea |
Family: | Zapodidae Coues, 1875 |
Genera | |
Synonyms | |
Zapodinae |
Zapodidae, the jumping mice, is a family of mouse-like rodents in North America and China.
Although mouse-like in general appearance, these rodents are distinguished by their elongated hind limbs, and, typically, by the presence of four pairs of cheek-teeth in each jaw. There are five toes to all the feet, but the first in the fore-feet is rudimentary, and furnished with a flat nail. The tail makes up about 60% of its body length and is used to gain balance while jumping. The cheeks have pouches. The Sichuan jumping "yeti" mouse ( Eozapus setchuanus ) from China can be identified by the ‘Y’ marking on its belly.
Jumping mice live in wooded areas, grassy fields and alpine meadows. When disturbed, they can leap eight to ten feet at a time, diminishing to three to four as they widen the gap between them and any pursuer. They are nocturnal and generally live alone. Nests are often found in clefts of rocks, among timber, or in hollow trees. Typically, they will have two to three litters per year.
Formerly classified in the subfamily Zapodinae alongside the birch mice and jerboas within the greater family Dipodidae, phylogenetic analysis has found the jumping mice, birch mice, and jerboas to each form their own family, with Dipodidae being restricted to the jerboas. All three families are thought to belong to the greater superfamily Dipodoidea. [1]
There are 11 recent species listed by the American Society of Mammalogists as of 2021. [2]
Family Zapodidae, jumping mice
In addition, four fossil genera are also definitively known: [3] [4] [5]
Jerboas are hopping desert rodents found throughout North Africa and Asia, and are members of the family Dipodidae. They tend to live in hot deserts.
Pedetes is a genus of rodent, the springhares, in the family Pedetidae. Members of the genus are distributed across southern and Eastern Africa.
A kangaroo mouse is either one of the two species of jumping mouse native to the deserts of the southwestern United States, predominantly found in the state of Nevada. The name "kangaroo mouse" refers to the species' extraordinary jumping ability, as well as its habit of bipedal locomotion. The two species are:
Dipodoidea is a superfamily of rodents, also known as dipodoids, found across the Northern Hemisphere. This superfamily includes over 50 species among the 16 genera in 3 families. They include the jerboas, jumping mice, and birch mice. Different species are found in grassland, deserts, and forests. They are all capable of saltation, a feature that is most highly evolved in the desert-dwelling jerboas.
The suborder Myomorpha contains 1,524 species of mouse-like rodents, nearly a quarter of all mammal species. Included are mice, rats, gerbils, hamsters, lemmings, and voles. They are grouped according to the structure of their jaws and molar teeth. They are characterized by their myomorphous zygomasseteric system, which means that both their medial and lateral masseter muscles are displaced forward, making them adept at gnawing. As in the hystricognathous rodents, the medial masseter muscle goes through the eye socket, a feature unique among mammals. Myomorphs are found worldwide in almost all land habitats. They are usually nocturnal seed-eaters.
The woodland jumping mouse is a species of jumping mouse found in North America. It can jump up to 3 m (9.8 ft) using its extremely strong feet and long tail.
Armintomys is an extinct genus of rodent from North America related to jerboas and jumping mice. It is the only genus in the family Armintomyidae. It lived during the early Eocene, and is the oldest known example of a hystricomorphous zygomasseteric dentition. In addition, Armintomys is also the oldest known rodent that had an incisor enamel transition from pauciserial to uniserial. Its remains have only been found in the Wind River Basin in Wyoming, and could be found there during the species' existence on Earth. It was previously assumed that Armintomys belonged to the Dipodoidea family, but has since been understood to have been part of an early radiation of dipodoid rodents, but was not directly ancestral to any later dipodoids, thus it was recategorized into its own family.
The Iranian jerboa is a rodent of the family Dipodidae and subfamily Allactaginae. They are characteristically known as hopping rodents and have only been found in a small population in Iran. Iranian jerboa are microhabitat specialist, they require a particular environment to provide them with specific conditions suitable for living.
Birch mice are small jumping rodents that resemble mice with long, tufted tails and very long hind legs, allowing for remarkable leaps. They are the only extant members of the family Sminthidae. They are native to Eurasian forests and steppes. All variants possess a long tail of 65 to 110 mm of length and weigh about 6 to 14 g. Head and body length of 50 to 90 mm and hind foot length of 14 to 18 mm. The animal's skin color is light brown or dark-brown to brownish yellow on the upper side and paler on the underside, but generally brownish. Birch mice have a vast geographic distribution in that they inhabit a wide variety of habitats, from semiarid areas to subalpine meadows. Although they have a diverse region of areas, their molecular and anatomical markers have claimed that Birch mice originated from Central Asia.Birch mice have a systematic of the genus of Sicista, they look at the male reproductive organs and cytogenic data.
Zapus is a genus of North American jumping mouse. It is the only genus whose members have the dental formula 1.0.1.31.0.0.3. Zapus are the only extant mammals aside from the Aye-aye with a total of 18 teeth.
The meadow jumping mouse is the most widely distributed mouse in the family Zapodidae. Its range extends from the Atlantic coast in the east to the Great Plains west, and from the arctic tree lines in Canada and Alaska to the north, and Georgia, Alabama, Arizona, and New Mexico to the south. In mid-2014, the New Mexico subspecies of the meadow jumping mouse, Zapus hudsonius luteus, was listed as an endangered species under the federal Endangered Species Act.
The Gobi jerboa is a species of rodent in the family Dipodidae. It is found in China and Mongolia. Its natural habitats are temperate grassland and temperate desert.
The small five-toed jerboa is a rodent of the family Dipodidae and genus Scarturus, that has five digits. They are hopping rodents of the rocky deserts in Asia. They have been found in Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, China, Georgia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Turkmenistan. They have long hind feet, short forelimbs, and walk upright. The jerboa body length ranges from 5–15 cm and has a tail ranging from 7–25 cm. They have large ears in comparison to their body size and a large tail. The tail assists and serves as support when the jerboa is standing upright. These hopping rodents can reach a speed up to 48
The Chinese jumping mouse is a species of rodent in the family Dipodidae. It is monotypic within the genus Eozapus. It is endemic to China where its natural habitat is temperate forests, steppes and meadows in mountainous regions. It is tolerant of some degree of habitat destruction, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of "least concern".
The western jumping mouse, is a species of rodent in the family Zapodidae. It is found in Canada and the 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.
Sminthidae is a family of mouse-like jumping rodents. They are represented by only one extant genus, Sicista, represented by 19 species found throughout most of Eurasia, from central Europe east to Siberia, and south to southern China. However, they were much more diverse and had a much wider range in prehistoric times, having multiple genera and being found not only in Eurasia but also throughout North America, where they existed up to the early Pleistocene. They have a well-attested fossil record which dates as far back as the early Oligocene.