Dormouse

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Dormice
Temporal range: Early Eocene – Recent
Graphiurus spec -murinus-1.jpg
African dormouse, Graphiurus sp.
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Suborder: Sciuromorpha
Family: Gliridae
Muirhead in Brewster, 1819 [1]
Type genus
Glis
Brisson, 1762
Subfamilies and genera

Graphiurinae

Leithiinae

Glirinae

A dormouse is a rodent of the family Gliridae (this family is also variously called Myoxidae or Muscardinidae by different taxonomists). Dormice are nocturnal animals found in Africa, Asia, and Europe. They are named for their long, dormant hibernation period of six months or longer. [2]

Contents

Etymology

The word dormouse comes from Middle English dormous, of uncertain origin, possibly from a dialectal element *dor-, from Old Norse dár 'benumbed' and Middle English mous 'mouse'.

The word is sometimes conjectured to come from an Anglo-Norman derivative of dormir 'to sleep', with the second element mistaken for mouse, but no such Anglo-Norman term is known to have existed. [3] [4]

The Latin noun glīs, which is the origin of the scientific name, descends from the Proto-Indo-European noun *gl̥h₁éys 'weasel, mouse', and is related to Sanskrit गिरि (girí) 'mouse' and Ancient Greek γαλέη (galéē) 'weasel'.

Characteristics

Dormice are small rodents, with body lengths between 6 and 19 cm (2.4 and 7.5 in), and weight between 15 and 180 g (0.53 and 6.35 oz). [5] They are generally mouse-like in appearance, but with furred tails. They are largely arboreal, agile, and well adapted to climbing. Most species are nocturnal. Dormice have an excellent sense of hearing and signal each other with a variety of vocalisations. [6]

Dormice are omnivorous, and typically feed on berries, flowers, fruits, insects, and nuts. They are unique among rodents in that they lack a cecum, a part of the gut used in other species to ferment vegetable matter. Their dental formula is similar to that of squirrels, although they often lack premolars:

Dentition
1.0.0–1.3
1.0.0–1.3

Dormice breed once (or, occasionally, twice) each year, producing litters with an average of four young after a gestation period of 22–24 days. They can live for as long as five years. The young are born hairless and helpless, and their eyes do not open until about 18 days after birth. They typically become sexually mature after the end of their first hibernation. Dormice live in small family groups, with home ranges that vary widely between species and depend on the availability of food. [6]

Hibernation

The little dormouse, sleeping in the winter nest. Muscardinus avellanarius - 1700-1880 little dormouse, sleeping in the winter nest.jpg
The little dormouse, sleeping in the winter nest.

One of the most notable characteristics of those dormice that live in temperate zones is hibernation. They can hibernate six months out of the year, or even longer if the weather does not become warm enough, sometimes waking for brief periods to eat food they had previously stored nearby. During the summer, they accumulate fat in their bodies to nourish them through the hibernation period. [6]

Relationship with humans

The edible dormouse (Glis glis) was considered a delicacy in ancient Rome, either as a savoury appetizer or as a dessert (dipped in honey and poppy seeds). The Romans used a special kind of enclosure, a glirarium, to raise and fatten dormice for the table. [6] It is still considered a delicacy in Slovenia and in several places in Croatia, namely Lika, and the islands of Hvar and Brač. [7] [8] Dormouse fat was believed by the Elizabethans to induce sleep since the animal put on fat before hibernating. [9]

In more recent years [10] dormice have begun to enter the pet trade, though they are uncommon as pets and are considered an exotic pet. The woodland dormouse (Graphiurus murinus) is the most commonly seen species in the pet trade. [11] Asian garden dormice (Eliomys melanurus) are also occasionally kept as pets. [12]

Evolution

The Gliridae are one of the oldest extant rodent families, with a fossil record dating back to the early Eocene. As currently understood, they descended in Europe from early Paleogene ischyromyids such as Microparamys (Sparnacomys) chandoni. The early and middle Eocene genus Eogliravus represents the earliest and most primitive glirid taxon; the oldest species, Eogliravus wildi, is known from isolated teeth from the early Eocene of France and a complete specimen of the early middle Eocene of the Messel pit in Germany. [13] They appear in Africa in the upper Miocene and only relatively recently in Asia. Many types of extinct dormouse species have been identified. During the Pleistocene, giant dormice the size of large rats, Leithia melitensis , lived on the islands of Malta and Sicily. [14]

Classification

The family consists of 29 extant species, in three subfamilies and (arguably) nine genera:

Family Gliridae – Dormice

Fossil species

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European edible dormouse</span> Species of rodent

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. The common name comes from the Romans, who ate them as a delicacy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hazel dormouse</span> Species of rodent

The hazel dormouse or common dormouse is a small dormouse species native to Europe and the only living species in the genus Muscardinus.

<i>Graphiurus</i> Genus of rodents

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 Lorrain dormouse is a species of rodent in the family Gliridae. It is found in Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical, moist, lowland forests, moist savanna, and plantations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desert dormouse</span> Species of rodent

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.

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

Leithiinae is a subfamily of dormice. It is named after the Leithia, an extinct genus of giant dormouse from the Pleistocene of Sicily.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forest dormouse</span> Species of rodent

The forest dormouse is a species of rodent in the family Gliridae found in eastern Europe, the Balkans and parts of western Central Asia. It is categorized as being of least concern in the IUCN List of Threatened Species due to its wide range and stable population trend. Forest dormice have a diploid count (2n) of 48 chromosomes. Even though this species lives in a variety of geographic locations, its greatest population density is in the forests of central Moldova, in Transcaucasia, and in the mountains of Central Asia. In most other locations, population density of this species is rather low. Population density is dependent on many factors. But the main features that this species depends on for choosing a location are the presence of the appropriate food sources as well as good foliage that can be used for a habitat. The reason why the forests in central Moldova have the highest population density is they provide the largest diversity of food sources which are available throughout the year. This location also provides the best type of foliage for the forest dormice to build their nests as well as swing from branches. The combination of both of these aspects allows for this species to have its highest needs met. Therefore, during mating season they produce offspring who also stay in the same general area when they mature. It makes sense not to move from an area if it is providing for your most basic needs.

<i>Hypnomys</i> Extinct genus of giant dormice

Hypnomys, otherwise known as Balearic giant dormice, is an extinct genus of dormouse (Gliridae) in the subfamily Leithiinae. Its species are considered examples of insular gigantism. They were endemic to the Balearic Islands in the western Mediterranean from the Early Pliocene until their extinction around 4,000 years ago. They first appeared in the fossil record on Mallorca during the Early Pliocene, presumably due to the Messinian salinity crisis causing a connection with mainland Europe. They later spread to Menorca, and a possible molar is also known from Ibiza. Hypnomys became extinct during the Holocene after human arrival on the Balearics. They were one of only three native land mammals to the islands at the time of human arrival, alongside the shrew Nesiotites and goat-antelope Myotragus.

Walter Verheyen's African dormouse is a monotypic species of rodent in the family Gliridae. From the Central Congolian lowland forests ecoregion in the central Congo Basin, it has been found in west-central Democratic Republic of the Congo, in the vicinity of the Lukenie River and of Wafania, near the left bank of the Luilaka River. Although not found in immediate association, Lorraine's dormouse and the short-eared African dormouse are understood to be "broadly sympatric". Most closely resembling Jentink's dormouse, it differs from this species both in its much smaller size and in its relative proportions. On the IUCN Red List, its conservation status has been assessed as Data Deficient.

References

  1. ↑ Davis Brewster, ed. Edinburgh Encyclopædia , 1819.
  2. ↑ "Species – Dormouse". The Mammal Society. Archived from the original on March 8, 2018. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
  3. ↑ Random House Dictionary, dormouse.
  4. ↑ Wedgwood, Hensleigh (1855). "On False Etymologies". Transactions of the Philological Society (6): 66.
  5. ↑ Juškaitis, R. (2001). "Weight changes of the common dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius L.) during the year in Lithuania" (PDF). Trakya University Journal of Scientific Research.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Baudoin, Claude (1984). Macdonald, D. (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Mammals . New York: Facts on File. pp.  678–680. ISBN   978-0-87196-871-5.
  7. ↑ Freedman, Paul (March 6, 2008). "Meals that Time Forgot". Gourmet.com. Archived from the original on March 11, 2008. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
  8. ↑ Kolumbić, Igor. "Fifth Puhijada". otok-hvar.com. Hvar: Offero Prima d.o.o. Archived from the original on March 7, 2021. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
  9. ↑ "10 ways to get a really good sleep". BBC. 27 March 2009. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
  10. ↑ "www.oocities.org/efexotics/africandormouse.html". 2009. As far as I know, my own pet shop in Cambridgeshire was the first pet shop in Britain to regularly stock the species (this was as recently as the 1990s).
  11. ↑ "Crittery Exotics". crittery.co.uk.
  12. ↑ "Crittery Exotics". crittery.co.uk.
  13. ↑ Storch, G.; Seiffert, C. (2007). "Extraordinarily preserved specimen of the oldest known glirid from the middle Eocene of Messel (Rodentia)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 27 (1): 189–194. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[189:EPSOTO]2.0.CO;2. S2CID   85909806.
  14. ↑ Savage, RJG; Long, MR (1986). Mammal Evolution: an illustrated guide . New York: Facts on File. p.  119. ISBN   978-0-8160-1194-0.
  15. ↑ Holden, Mary Ellen; Levine, Rebecca S (2009). "Chapter 9. Systematic Revision of Sub-Saharan African Dormice (Rodentia: Gliridae: Graphiurus) Part II: Description of a New Species of Graphiurus from the Central Congo Basin, Including Morphological and Ecological Niche Comparisons with G. crassicaudatus and G. lorraineus". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 331: 314–355. doi:10.1206/582-9.1. S2CID   85409018.

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