Dormouse






































Dormice
Temporal range: Early Eocene–Recent

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Graphiurus spec -murinus-1.jpg
African dormouse, Graphiurus sp.

Scientific classification edit
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Mammalia
Order:
Rodentia
Suborder:
Sciuromorpha
Family:
Gliridae
Muirhead in Brewster, 1819[1]
Subfamilies and genera

Graphiurinae


  • Graphiurus

Leithiinae



  • Chaetocauda

  • Dryomys

  • Eliomys

  • Hypnomys

  • Leithia

  • Muscardinus

  • Myomimus

  • Selevinia


Glirinae



  • Glirulus

  • Glis



A dormouse is a rodent of the family Gliridae (this family is also variously called Myoxidae or Muscardinidae by different taxonomists). Dormice are mostly found in Europe, although some species live in Africa or Asia. A nocturnal animal, dormice are particularly known for their long periods of hibernation.[2]


As only one species of dormouse is native to the British Isles, the hazel dormouse, in everyday English usage "dormouse" can refer either to that one species or to the family as a whole.


The English name of the species derived from the French dormeuse, and the latter in turn probably from the Langued. radourmeire.[3]




Contents






  • 1 Characteristics


    • 1.1 Hibernation




  • 2 Relationship with humans


  • 3 Evolution


  • 4 Classification


    • 4.1 Fossil species




  • 5 References


  • 6 Further reading


  • 7 External links





Characteristics


Dormice are small rodents, with body lengths between 6 and 19 cm (2.4 and 7.5 in), and weights between 15 and 180 g (0.53 and 6.35 oz).[citation needed] They are generally mouse-like in appearance, but with furred, rather than scaly, tails. They are largely arboreal, agile, and well adapted to climbing. Most species are nocturnal. Dormice have an excellent sense of hearing and signal each other with a variety of vocalisations.[4]


Dormice are omnivorous, typically feeding on fruits, berries, flowers, nuts, and insects. They are unique among rodents in that they lack a cecum, a part of the gut used in other species to ferment vegetable matter. Their dental formula is similar to that of squirrels, although they often lack premolars:







Dentition
1.0.0–1.3
1.0.0–1.3

Dormice breed once or occasionally twice each year, producing litters with an average of four young after a gestation period of 22–24 days. They can live for as long as five years. The young are born hairless and helpless, and their eyes do not open until about 18 days after birth. They typically become sexually mature after the end of their first hibernation. Dormice live in small family groups, with home ranges that vary widely between species and depend on the availability of food.[4]



Hibernation


One of the most notable characteristics of those dormice that live in temperate zones is hibernation. They can hibernate six months out of the year, or even longer if the weather does not become warm enough, sometimes waking for brief periods to eat food they had previously stored nearby. During the summer, they accumulate fat in their bodies to nourish them through the hibernation period.[4]


The sleepy behaviour of the dormouse character in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland reflects this familiar trait of dormice.



Relationship with humans


The edible dormouse (Glis glis) was considered a delicacy in ancient Rome, either as a savoury appetizer or as a dessert (dipped in honey and poppy seeds). The Romans used a special kind of enclosure, a glirarium, to raise dormice for the table.[4] It is still considered a delicacy in Slovenia and in several places in Croatia, namely Lika, and the islands of Hvar and Brač.[5][6] Dormouse fat was believed by the Elizabethans to induce sleep since the animal put on fat before hibernating.[7]


In more recent years[8] dormice have begun to enter the pet trade, though they are uncommon as pets and are considered an exotic pet. The woodland dormouse (Graphiurus murinus) is the most commonly seen species in the pet trade.[9]Asian garden dormice (Eliomys melanurus) are also occasionally kept as pets.[10]



Evolution


The Gliridae are one of the oldest extant rodent families, with a fossil record dating back to the early Eocene. As currently understood, they descended in Europe from early Paleogene ischyromyids such as Microparamys (Sparnacomys) chandoni. The early and middle Eocene genus Eogliravus represents the earliest and most primitive glirid taxon; the oldest species, Eogliravus wildi, is known from isolated teeth from the early Eocene of France and a complete specimen of the early middle Eocene of the Messel pit in Germany.[11] They appear in Africa in the upper Miocene and only relatively recently in Asia. Many types of extinct dormouse species have been identified. During the Pleistocene, giant dormice the size of large rats, such as Leithia melitensis, lived on the islands of Malta and Sicily.[12]



Classification


The family consists of 29 living species, in three subfamilies and (arguably) nine genera:


Family Gliridae – Dormice




  • Subfamily Graphiurinae
    • Genus Graphiurus, African dormice


      • Angolan African dormouse, Graphiurus angolensis


      • Christy's dormouse, Graphiurus christyi


      • Jentink's dormouse, Graphiurus crassicaudatus


      • Johnston's African dormouse, Graphiurus johnstoni


      • Kellen's dormouse, Graphiurus kelleni


      • Lorrain dormouse, Graphiurus lorraineus


      • Small-eared dormouse, Graphiurus microtis


      • Monard's dormouse, Graphiurus monardi


      • Woodland dormouse, Graphiurus murinus


      • Nagtglas's African dormouse, Graphiurus nagtglasii


      • Spectacled dormouse, Graphiurus ocularis


      • Rock dormouse, Graphiurus platyops


      • Stone dormouse, Graphiurus rupicola


      • Silent dormouse, Graphiurus surdus


      • Graphiurus walterverheyeni [13]





  • Subfamily Leithiinae

    • Genus Chaetocauda

      • Chinese dormouse, Chaetocauda sichuanensis


    • Genus Dryomys


      • Woolly dormouse, Dryomys laniger


      • Balochistan forest dormouse, Dryomys niethammeri


      • Forest dormouse, Dryomys nitedula



    • Genus Eliomys, garden dormice


      • Asian garden dormouse, Eliomys melanurus


      • Maghreb garden dormouse, Eliomys munbyanus


      • Garden dormouse, Eliomys quercinus

        Dormouse.jpeg





    • Genus Hypnomys† (Balearic dormouse)


      • Majorcan giant dormouse, Hypnomys morphaeus


      • Minorcan giant dormouse, Hypnomys mahonensis



    • Genus Leithia

      • Maltese giant dormouse, Leithia melitensis


      • Leithia cartei



    • Genus Muscardinus

      • Hazel dormouse, Muscardinus avellanarius


    • Genus Myomimus, mouse-tailed dormice


      • Masked mouse-tailed dormouse, Myomimus personatus


      • Roach's mouse-tailed dormouse, Myomimus roachi


      • Setzer's mouse-tailed dormouse, Myomimus setzeri



    • Genus Selevinia

      • Desert dormouse, Selevinia betpakdalaensis





  • Subfamily Glirinae

    • Genus Glirulus

      • Japanese dormouse, Glirulus japonicus


    • Genus Glis

      • Edible dormouse, Glis glis






Fossil species



  • Subfamily Bransatoglirinae

    • Genus Oligodyromys

    • Genus Bransatoglis


      • Bransatoglis adroveri Majorca, Early Oligocene


      • Bransatoglis planus Eurasia, Early Oligocene






References





  1. ^ Davis Brewster, ed. Edinburgh Encyclopædia, 1819.


  2. ^ "Species – Dormouse – The Mammal Society". The Mammal Society. Retrieved March 8, 2018..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}


  3. ^ Wedgwood, Hensleigh (1855). "On False Etymologies". Transactions of the Philological Society (6): 66.


  4. ^ abcd Baudoin, Claude (1984). Macdonald, D., ed. The Encyclopedia of Mammals. New York: Facts on File. pp. 678–680. ISBN 978-0-87196-871-5.


  5. ^ Freedman, Paul (March 6, 2008). "Meals that Time Forgot". Gourmet.com. Archived from the original on March 11, 2008. Retrieved February 13, 2017.


  6. ^ Kolumbić, Igor. "Fifth Puhijada". otok-hvar.com. Hvar: Offero Prima d.o.o. Retrieved February 13, 2017.


  7. ^ "10 ways to get a really good sleep". BBC. 27 March 2009. Retrieved February 13, 2017.


  8. ^ "www.oocities.org/efexotics/africandormouse.html". 2009. As far as I know, my own pet shop in Cambridgeshire was the first pet shop in Britain to regularly stock the species (this was as recently as the 1990s).


  9. ^ "Dormice".


  10. ^ "Asian Garden Dormice".


  11. ^ Storch, G.; Seiffert, C. (2007). "Extraordinarily preserved specimen of the oldest known glirid from the middle Eocene of Messel (Rodentia)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 27 (1): 189–194. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[189:EPSOTO]2.0.CO;2.


  12. ^ Savage, RJG; Long, MR (1986). Mammal Evolution: an illustrated guide. New York: Facts on File. p. 119. ISBN 978-0-8160-1194-0.


  13. ^ Holden, Mary Ellen; Levine, Rebecca S (2009). "Chapter 9. Systematic Revision of Sub-Saharan African Dormice (Rodentia: Gliridae: Graphiurus) Part II: Description of a New Species of Graphiurus from the Central Congo Basin, Including Morphological and Ecological Niche Comparisons with G. crassicaudatus and G. lorraineus". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 331: 314–355. doi:10.1206/582-9.1.




Further reading


  • Holden, M. E. "Family Gliridae". pp. 819–841 in Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder, eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2005.


External links








  • "Dormouse" at BBC Wales Nature


  • Glirarium.org (in English) (in German)

  • Dormice at The PiedPiper

  • Dormice at The Dedicated Dormouse Site











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