200px, A mouse-like hamster 200px, Mouse-like hamster using its tail for balance while standing on a branch Mouse-like hamsters, also called brush-tailed mice or calomyscids, are a group of small

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 belonging to the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

''Calomyscus'' found in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. They are found in rocky outcrops and semi-mountainous areas in desert regions. The generic name ''Calomyscus'' derives from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

word , meaning ; the full name translates to "beautiful mouse". The mouse-like hamsters are not true

hamster Hamsters are rodents (order Rodentia) belonging to the subfamily Cricetinae, which contains 19 species classified in seven genera. They have become established as popular small pets. The best-known species of hamster is the golden or Syrian ...

s, but represent an early split from the rest of the mouse-like rodents. They were once thought to be

s based on the shape of their molars, but they lack the

cheek pouch Cheek pouches are pockets on both sides of the head of some mammals between the jaw and the cheek. They can be found on mammals including the platypus, some rodents, and most monkeys, as well as the marsupial koala. The cheek pouches of chipmunk ...

es, flank glands and short tails of the true hamsters. The closest relatives of the mouse-like hamsters may be the extinct Cricetodontidae. Because of their seemingly early break from the rest of the mouse-like rodents, mouse-like hamsters have been placed in a family of their own, Calomyscidae, and have been referred to as

living fossil A living fossil is a Deprecation, deprecated term for an extant taxon that phenotypically resembles related species known only from the fossil record. To be considered a living fossil, the fossil species must be old relative to the time of or ...

s. All members of the

were once considered part of the same

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

, '' Calomyscus bailwardi'', but they are now considered separate species due to major differences in

chromosome A chromosome is a package of DNA containing part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes, the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with nucleosome-forming packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells, the most import ...

number,

skull The skull, or cranium, is typically a bony enclosure around the brain of a vertebrate. In some fish, and amphibians, the skull is of cartilage. The skull is at the head end of the vertebrate. In the human, the skull comprises two prominent ...

measurements, and other features. Several species have been discovered in the 2020s, including Behzad's brush-tailed mouse (''C. behzadi'') and the Kerman brush-tailed mouse (''C. kermanensis''). There are two known extinct species: ''C. delicatus'' Aguilar et al. 1984 and ''C. minor'' de Bruijn et al. 1970. In

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, a species of ''Calomyscus'' is available as a

pet A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive/ cute appearances, inte ...

. They are labelled ''Calomyscus bailwardi mystax'' or ''Calomyscus bailwardi''. They are generally only available from dedicated breeders, not pet shops.

Species

The family Calomyscidae consists of eight extant species in one genus. This does not include hybrid species or extinct prehistoric species. Only one of these species, Goodwin's brush-tailed mouse, has more than one subspecies. The cladogram below is based on that produced by Rezazadeh and colleagues in 2024, and excludes '' Calomyscus tsolovi'' due to deficient data. Family Calomyscidae * Genus '' Calomyscus'': eight species ** Zagros Mountains mouse-like hamster, ''C. bailwardi'' ** Baluchi mouse-like hamster, ''C. baluchi'' ** Behzad's mouse-like hamster, ''C. behzadi'' ** Goodwin's mouse-like hamster, ''C. elburzensis'' ***Zykov's mouse-like hamster, ''C. e. zykovi'' ** Noble mouse-like hamster, ''C. grandis'' ** Hotson's mouse-like hamster, ''C. hotsoni'' ** Kerman mouse-like hamster, ''C. kermanensis'' ** Great Balkhan mouse-like hamster, ''C. mystax'' ** Tsolov's mouse-like hamster, ''C. tsolovi'' ** Urar mouse-like hamster, ''C. urartensis''

References

External links

Photos of the Turkmen Mouse-like hamster (German page)
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q284030, from2=Q15179606 Muroid rodents * Mammals of Pakistan Mammals of West Asia Mammals of Central Asia Extant Miocene first appearances Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas