Detailed species of mice

There are more than 500 species of rodents, which are the second largest family of mammals. Its members are very diverse and can be divided into several subfamilies, most of which belong to rodent family. The house mouse, Rattus norvegicus and house mouse (right) of the genus Rattus in the family Muridae have come to all parts of the world with human beings. They are the most successful and common mammals, generally regarded as pests, and also cultivated into albino varieties for medical experiments. Except for the artificially diffused species, the natural distribution of rodents is limited to the Old World, many of which are limited in distribution, and some are on the verge of extinction or have long been extinct. There are two distribution centers of rodents, one is from South Asia to Oceania, among which Nanyang Islands are the most abundant, and the other is Africa, with fewer species than in previous areas. These two areas have their own genera and species, and only a few mice, such as house mice, are shared by the two areas. Except for several species of house mice that spread with humans, only Apodemus agrarius and Mus musculus are found in Europe and northern Asia, and a few species of Rattus flavipectus are distributed in other parts of Asia. Other species of rodents are limited to these two areas, among which Mus musculus (left) is the only species of Rattus flavipectus. It is distributed in a vast area of Eurasia and is one of the smallest rodents. It has a curved tail and can climb on the grass. Also known as the old world vole, it corresponds to the real hamster in the new world. Rodents adapt to different living environments, and their shapes and habits are diverse. Typical members of the rodent family are similar to house mice in morphology and habits, but some of them are quite different. For example, Hydromys chrysogaster, an Australian water rat in Australia, is large and weighs up to one kilogram. It is semi-aquatic and feeds on fish and other aquatic animals. Notomys, an Australian squirrel, is a bipedal jumping action, mainly living in desert areas, similar to gruber in America; The hair of African grouper transplanted from Dormouse subfamily, the East China Sea of Ryukyu Islands and the plateau grouper has become a protective thorn. Many species have adapted to arboreal life. In the family Roderidae, there are many different members in only one genus of Roderidae, such as aquatic, arboreal and spiny members. The house mouse is the largest genus of rodents, and it is also the most chaotic one. Some people think that it is the largest genus among mammals, with more than 80 species of/kloc-0, while others merge or remove some members, leaving only about 80 species in Southeast Asia and Oceania, less than insectivora, but even so, it is still the largest genus among rodents.

Acomys subspinosus, a kind of cappucci.

Notomys alexis, a North Australian squirrel.

Australian vole hydra

A family of rodents.

Circetidae is the largest family in mammals, with more than 600 species and many fossil species, which can be divided into several different subfamilies and families. The division of these subfamilies and families is controversial. There are the most species in the New World, including all the members of Rodentia in South America, followed by northern Eurasia, and it is the main rodent in northern Eurasia. It is also distributed in the African continent and Madagascar, and is the only rodent in Madagascar, but it is not distributed in the rodent distribution centers in Southeast Asia and Oceania.

The orange peel subfamily is mainly distributed in Central and South America, with a small amount in North America. It is the only member of the south American rodent family. Due to the lack of competition from other rodents, it has developed into a group with a wide variety of living habits, about 350 species, more than half of Carnivora. Most members of the West Rodinae are similar to the typical members of the Old World Rodinae in appearance and habits, occupying the position of the mainland Rodinae, but they also include members of insectivorous and small animals, semi-aquatic members of fish-eating and aquatic invertebrates, burrowing members and arboreal members, occupying various living environments.

A salt marsh vole

Cricetinae may be closely related to Murinae, and some people have merged Murinae into Murinae. Hamsters are mainly distributed in Asia and a few in Europe, and many of them adapt to life in arid areas. The other is Mystromys albicaudatus, which is distributed in Africa, and some people classify it as Falklandia. The typical members of Hamster subfamily are fat and cute, with short tails. Among them, the golden hamster (Mesocicetus auratus) is a kind of golden hamster originally distributed in the Middle East and the Near East. It is widely kept as a pet and is called the "golden bear".

Golden hamster

Zokor family is a rodent adapted to underground life, with short tail, small eyes, poor eyesight, degenerated external ear and only small skin folds. City zoo is mainly distributed in China, but also in Mongolia and Siberia. They live in remote forests, grasslands and farmland, live in underground caves during the day, and occasionally go to the ground at night to feed on the roots, stems and seeds of plants and store a lot of food in caves. City zoo has a very fast digging speed, a complex cave system and many branches. Usually there is no obvious exit on the ground, but there are irregular mounds nearby.

Nesomyinae, named after its distribution in Madagascar, is the only rodent on the island, with more than ten species. Although there are not many kinds of mice on the island, they are very diverse, including arboreal, terrestrial and jumping members, and their feeding habits range from plants to insects. Some people think that these different rodents on the island are not of a single origin, so they can be eliminated and their members placed in other groups.

Lophiomyinae only includes Lophiomys imhausi, a kind of crown rat distributed in northeast Africa. The hair on the crown mouse is long, and sometimes it stands up to form a crown. The hair on the tail of the crown mouse is also longer, and it seems that the tail is thicker than other hamsters. The crown mouse is stout, similar to a guinea pig, weighing up to 2.5 kilograms, and is the largest member of the suborder Roderidae. Crown mice hide in caves during the day and climb trees at night to feed. Although its body looks heavy, its climbing skills are superb.

Lophiomys imhausi, the crown mouse

Microptera, also known as subfamily, is the second largest subfamily of Ratatoinae. Microtus subfamily is distributed in Eurasia and North America. The northernmost reaches the Arctic Circle, and the southernmost reaches Southeast Asia, northern South Asia and Guatemala. Microtus subfamily is the most important rodent in Eurasia and northern North America, and occupies an important position in the food chain in this area. Microtus subfamily adapts to various living environments, some species adapt to grassland and farmland life, some species adapt to forest life, some species inhabit mountains, some species inhabit Arctic tundra, some species burrow, some species are semi-aquatic, most of them eat plant food, and a few eat animal food. Many members of Microtus subfamily live in groups, and some species of lemmings have the habit of migrating in groups when there are too many. The number of lemmings has a great influence on carnivores in the Arctic.

earth water

Gerbilidae

The gerbil family is named because it is mainly distributed in desert areas. Gerbils are mainly distributed in Africa, inland Asia and Europe, and also in northern China, especially in northwest China. Gerbils are very adapted to life in arid areas. They hardly need to drink water all their lives, have sharp claws, can dig complex caves and store a lot of food in them. Some species of gerbils have long hind legs, which keep their bodies away from the hot sand and are suitable for jumping and walking. Their long tails are for balance. Gerbils are an important food source for desert carnivores.

Tatera afra, a barefoot South African gerbil.

Epinephridae

Sauridae, also known as Moleidae, is a highly adaptable underground burrowing rodent, which is more specialized than other burrowing rodents. Its eyes have completely degenerated, there is no outer ear, and its tail has disappeared. Blind rats have big heads and well-developed front teeth. They dig holes with their heads and front teeth more often than with their forelimbs. Blind mice mainly eat plants and occasionally eat insects and other foods. Blind rats are distributed in Caspian Sea, Middle and Near East, North Africa and Southeast Europe.

Rhizomes of bambinae

Root-hairy rodents, including Asian bamboo mouse, small bamboo mouse and African fast digging mouse, are rodents that adapt to underground caves. Bamboo rats are mainly distributed in southern China, reaching Malaya and Sumatra to the south. They often live in bamboo forests and like to eat underground stems and bamboo shoots of bamboo. They are very big and weigh 600-800 grams. The little bamboo mouse is small, distributed in Myanmar, Thailand to Nepal and Bhutan, and appears in the border area between China and Myanmar. Fast digging rats, also known as African bamboo rats, are distributed in East Africa. It is more adapted to underground life than a bamboo mouse, but not as good as a blind mouse. It has an outer ear, sighted eyes and a relatively long tail.

Digging rats with big heads

dipodoidea

Dipodoidea is a small rodent that is good at jumping. Its hind limbs are longer than its forelimbs, and its tail is slender. Jerboa superfamily is distributed in Eurasia, North America and North Africa, and can be divided into forest jerboa family and jerboa family. Jerboa superfamily includes some smallest rodents, among which Salpingotulus michaelis, a small-horned jerboa distributed in Pakistan, is the smallest rodent, with a head length less than 5 cm and a forest jerboa less than 10 cm. Members of the superfamily of jerboa have hibernation habits, and some species hibernate for a long time.

Forest jerboa family jerboa family

Zapodidae is a small family distributed in the northern continent, including two genera in North America and two genera in Eurasia. Although the hind limbs of forest jerboa family members are longer than the forelimbs, they are far less than those of forest jerboa family members. In some species, the hind limbs are only slightly longer than the forelimbs, the ears are shorter and rounder than jerboa, the appearance is slightly like a typical mouse, the tail is very long, but there is no tail nail at the end. Members of the jerboa family live in forests, swamps and open areas and eat fruits, seeds and insects. Their food composition varies from species to species. Eozapus setchuanus is not only a species endemic to China, but also a genus endemic to China. Distributed in western China from Gansu to Yunnan, the number is very rare.

Loki forest jerboa

Jerboa family jerboa family

Dipodidae is a rodent adapted to desert life, named after its long hind legs and bipedal jumping. Compared with other jumping rodents of the same kind, the hind limbs and tail of jerboa are longer, the hind limbs are even four times longer than the forelimbs, and the tail hair is long enough to form a tail nail. Some species have bigger ears and usually bigger eyes. The jerboa family is mainly distributed in the arid areas of central and western Asia, and is also found in North Africa. There are several species of jerboa in China, among which Euchoreutes naso, a long-eared jerboa, is basically a specialty of China, distributed in the northwest of China, and only exists in Mongolian Altai abroad. Long-eared jerboa has a special shape and can form a subfamily independently. Compared with other jerboa, the long-eared jerboa has a sharp nose and mouth, small eyes and extremely long ears, almost half the length of its head and body, and is the animal with the largest proportion of ears.

Little jerboa (African jerboa)

Dormantoidea

Glioridea is named after its nocturnal nature. Species distributed in temperate zones have hibernation habits and hibernate for a long time, but some members of glioridea are also distributed in Africa, where hibernation is not needed. There are different opinions about the classification of Nymphaeoidea. Traditionally, it is divided into the family Lepidopteridae, the family Flat-bellied Arachnidae and the family Sleeping Arachnidae. Some people put the latter two families in Dormingidae, but now the Dormingidae distributed in South Asia and South China are generally placed in Rodents.

Dormouse family

Misgurinae is divided into subfamily Misgurinae distributed in Eurasia and subfamily Misgurinae distributed in Africa. Members of the Dormouse family have fluffy and hairy tails and look like fat squirrels. Most of them are small, arboreal, feed on plants and occasionally eat animal food. Dormice in temperate regions nest in trees in summer, hibernate mainly in tree holes near the ground in winter, and before hibernation, they will use the abandoned caves of cave rabbits to eat very fat things. Dormantidae are basically nocturnal animals, but pen-tailed dormouse, which lives in the dark tropical rain forest, also comes out during the day.

A Dormouse with a big tail.

Desert Dormouse Family

Seleviniidae is the only species of desert Dormouse Selvinia betpakdalensis (right), which is distributed in the desert area of southeastern Kazakhstan. The shape and habits of desert Dormouse are different from those of Dormouse. The tail hair is short, and you can jump with your hind legs. It mainly eats insects and plants, digs holes in the desert and stores food in the holes.