Birch mice (genus ''Sicista'') are small jumping
rodent
Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...
s 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
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. How ...
. They are native to Eurasian forests and
steppes. All variants possess a long tail of of length and weigh about . Head and body length of and hind foot length of .
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.
Species
Nineteen species are listed by the
American Society of Mammalogists as of 2021:
*
Armenian birch mouse, ''
Sicista armenica''
*
Northern birch mouse, ''
Sicista betulina''
*
Caucasian birch mouse, ''
Sicista caucasica''
*
Long-tailed birch mouse
The long-tailed birch mouse (''Sicista caudata'') is a species of birch mouse found in Northeast Asia. It has been reported from the Ussuri region of Manchuria, Sakhalin Island and Primorsky Krai in Russia, and northern North Korea. It is ...
, ''
Sicista caudata''
*
Tsimlyansk birch mouse, ''
Sicista cimlanica''
*
Chinese birch mouse, ''
Sicista concolor''
*
Kazbeg birch mouse, ''
Sicista kazbegica''
*
Kluchor birch mouse, ''
Sicista kluchorica''
*
Nordmann's birch mouse, ''
Sicista loriger''
*
Altai birch mouse, ''
Sicista napaea''
*
Gray birch mouse, ''
Sicista pseudonapaea''
*
Severtzov's birch mouse, ''
Sicista severtzovi''
*
Strand's birch mouse, ''
Sicista strandi''
*
Southern birch mouse
The southern birch mouse (''Sicista subtilis'') is a species of birch mouse in the family Sminthidae. It is native to southern Russia, Kazakhstan, and potentially northern Mongolia and China.
Taxonomy
The Hungarian birch mouse (''S. trizona'' ...
, ''
Sicista subtilis''
*
Talgar birch mouse, ''
Sicista talgarica''
*
Terskey birch mouse, ''
Sicista terskeica''
*
Tien Shan birch mouse
The Tien Shan birch mouse (''Sicista tianshanica'') is a species of rodent in the family Sminthidae. It is found in China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
Description
The Tien Shan birch mouse grows to a length of about with a tail length of about o ...
, ''
Sicista tianshanica''
*
Hungarian birch mouse, ''
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''.
References
Sminthidae
Taxa named by John Edward Gray
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