Muridae

The Muridae, or murids, are either the largest or second-largest family of rodents and of mammals, containing approximately 870 species, including many species of mice, rats, and gerbils found naturally throughout Eurasia, Africa, and Australia. The name Muridae comes from the Latin (genitive ), meaning "mouse", since all true mice belong to the family, with the more typical mice belonging to the genus Mus.

Characteristics

The murids are small mammals, typically around long excluding the tail, but ranging from in the African pygmy mouse to in the northern Luzon giant cloud rat. They typically have slender bodies with scaled tails longer than the body, and pointed snouts with prominent whiskers, but with wide variation in these broad traits. Some murids have elongated legs and feet to allow them to move with a hopping motion, while others have broad feet and prehensile tails to improve their climbing ability, and yet others have neither adaptation. They are most commonly some shade of brown in color, although many have black, grey, or white markings. Murids generally have excellent senses of hearing and smell. They live in a wide range of habitats from forest to grassland, and mountain ranges. A number of species, especially the gerbils, are adapted to desert conditions and can survive for a long time with minimal water. They consume a wide range of foods depending on the species, with the aid of powerful jaw muscles and gnawing incisors that grow throughout life. The dental formula of murids is . Murids breed frequently, often producing large litters several times per year. They typically give birth between twenty and forty days after mating, although this varies greatly between species. The young are typically born blind, hairless, and helpless, although exceptions occur, such as in spiny mice.

Evolution

As with many other small mammals, the evolution of the murids is not well known, as few fossils survive. They probably evolved from hamster-like animals in tropical Asia some time in the early Miocene, and have only subsequently produced species capable of surviving in cooler climates. They have become especially common worldwide during the current geological epoch, as a result of hitching a ride commensally with human migrations.

Classification

The murids are classified in five subfamilies, around 150 genera, and about 834 species.

Subfamilies

Source: Deomyinae (spiny mice, brush furred mice, link rat) Gerbillinae (gerbils, jirds and sand rats) Leimacomyinae (Togo mouse) Lophiomyinae (maned rat or crested rat) Murinae (Old World rats and mice, including vlei rats)

In literature

]] Murids feature in literature, including folk tales and fairy stories. Among Aesop's Fables are The Cat and the Mice and The Frog and the Mouse. In the Pied Piper of Hamelin, retold in many versions since the 14th century, including one by the Brothers Grimm, a rat-catcher lures the town's rats into the river, but the mayor refuses to pay him. In revenge, the rat-catcher lures away all the children of the town, never to return. Mice feature in some of Beatrix Potter's small books, including The Tale of Two Bad Mice (1904), The Tale of Mrs Tittlemouse (1910), The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse (1918), and The Tailor of Gloucester (1903), which last was described by J. R. R. Tolkien as perhaps the nearest to his idea of a fairy story, the rest being "beast-fables". The Redwall series of Brian Jacques detail the quests of mice and other woodland species. In James Herbert's first novel, The Rats, (1974), a vagrant is attacked and eaten alive by a pack of giant rats; further attacks follow.

References

External links

Muridae at Mammal Species of the World "Walker's Mammals of the World." Google Books. 08 Nov. 2015. ADW: Muridae: INFORMATION

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1356904267 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.

Names in other languages