Birch mouse
Birch mice | |
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Sicista betulina
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Rodentia |
Family: | Sminthidae |
Genus: | Sicista J. E. Gray, 1827 |
Type species | |
Mus subtilis | |
Species | |
See text |
Birch mice (genus Sicista) 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.[1] They are native to Eurasian forests and steppes. All variants possess a long tail of 65 to 110 mm (2.6 to 4.3 in) of length and weigh about 6 to 14 g (0.21 to 0.49 oz). Head and body length of 50 to 90 mm (2.0 to 3.5 in) and hind foot length of 14 to 18 mm (0.55 to 0.71 in).[2] 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.[2] Birch mice have a vast geographic distribution in that they inhabit a wide variety of habitats, from semiarid areas to subalpine meadows.[3] Although they have a diverse region of areas, their molecular and anatomical markers have claimed that Birch mice originated from Central Asia.[4]Birch mice have a systematic of the genus of Sicista, they look at the male reproductive organs and cytogenic data.[5]
Species
Nineteen species are listed by the American Society of Mammalogists as of 2021:[6]
- Sicista armenica
- Sicista betulina
- Sicista caucasica
- Sicista caudata
- Tsimlyansk birch mouse, Sicista cimlanica
- Chinese birch mouse, Sicista concolor
- Sicista kazbegica
- Sicista kluchorica
- Nordmann's birch mouse, Sicista loriger
- Sicista napaea
- Sicista pseudonapaea
- Sicista severtzovi
- Sicista strandi
- Sicista subtilis
- Talgar birch mouse, Sicista talgarica
- Terskey birch mouse, Sicista terskeica
- Sicista tianshanica
- Sicista trizona
- Zhetysu birch mouse, Sicista zhetysuica
Phylogeny
All species of Sicista cluster into five major lineages: S. betulina, S. caucasica, S. caudata, S. tianschanica, and S. concolor.[7]
References
- S2CID 86686066.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8018-5789-8. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
- ^ Cserkész, T., Fülöp, A., Almerekova, S. et al. J Mammal Evol (2019) 26: 147. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-017-9409-6
- ISSN 1064-7554.
- ^ Cserkész, T., Rusin, M., & Sramkó, G. (2016). integrative systematic revision of the European southern birch mice (Rodentia: Sminthidae, Sicista subtilis group). Mammal Review, 46(2), 114–130. https://doi.org/10.1111/mam.12058
- ^ Database, Mammal Diversity, Mammal Diversity Database, retrieved 2022-05-21
- S2CID 91273821.