The African pygmy mouse (''Mus minutoides'') is one of the smallest

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 lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are roden ...

s. It is widespread within sub-Saharan Africa, and is kept as a pet in other parts of the world. Like the common

house mouse The house mouse (''Mus musculus'') is a small mammal of the order Rodentia, characteristically having a pointed snout, large rounded ears, and a long and almost hairless tail. It is one of the most abundant species of the genus ''Mus''. Althoug ...

, it is a member of the enormous superfamily Muroidea, which includes about 1000 different

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

. Grey to brick-red overall, it is pale on the underside and has small but prominent triangular ears. Adults are between long, with a tail, and weigh from . African pygmy mice reach breeding age at about 6 to 8 weeks. Pregnancy lasts for around 20 days and the litter of about three young is born blind and hairless. Their eyes open after 2 weeks, and weaning is complete after 4 weeks. The lifespan is about 2 years, although individual specimens have been reported to live over 4 years in captivity. The African pygmy mouse has a number of unique traits. It stacks pebbles in front of its burrow. Overnight, the pebbles gather dew and in the morning, the pygmy mouse drinks the dew on the pebbles. After that, it retires to its den. Its method of sex determination has also been found to differ from most mammals in that rearrangements of the

X chromosome The X chromosome is one of the two sex-determining chromosomes ( allosomes) in many organisms, including mammals (the other is the Y chromosome), and is found in both males and females. It is a part of the XY sex-determination system and XO se ...

have led to many XY individuals actually being female. They live in colonies or in pairs in grass close to water and are excellent climbers.

As pets

Pygmy mice are often kept as pets, but require social interaction, so should always be kept as pairs or small colonies.African Pygmy Mouse
Heritage-pets.tripod.com. Retrieved on 2012-12-28. They have quite simple care needs, and are active during both day and night, making them interesting exotic pets to own,African Pygmy Mice Overview – Crittery Exotics
Crittery.co.uk. Retrieved on 2012-12-28. but cannot be handled due to the risk of inadvertently causing internal damage due to their small size and tendency to jump when startled.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q386974 Mammals described in 1834 Mus (rodent) Rodents of Africa Mammals of Zambia