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Muridae

December 02, 2023

The Muridae, or murids, are the largest family of rodents and of mammals, containing approximately 1,383 species,[2] including many species of mice, rats, and gerbils found naturally throughout Eurasia, Africa, and Australia.[3]

Muridae
Temporal range: Early Miocene – Recent[1]
House mouse, Mus musculus
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Superfamily: Muroidea
Family: Muridae
Illiger, 1811
Type genus
Mus
Linnaeus, 1758
Subfamilies

The name Muridae comes from the Latin mus (genitive muris), meaning "mouse", since all true mice belong to the family, with the more typical mice belonging to the genus Mus.

Distribution and habitat edit

Murids are found nearly everywhere in the world, though many subfamilies have narrower ranges. Murids are not found in Antarctica or many oceanic islands. Although none of them are native to the Americas, a few species, notably the house mouse and black rat, have been introduced worldwide. Murids occupy a broad range of ecosystems from tropical forests to tundras. Fossorial, arboreal, and semiaquatic murid species occur, though most are terrestrial animals.[4] The extensive list of niches filled by murids helps to explain their relative abundance.

Diet and dentition edit

A broad range of feeding habits is found in murids, ranging from herbivorous and omnivorous species to specialists that consume strictly earthworms, certain species of fungi, or aquatic insects.[4] Most genera consume plant matter and small invertebrates, often storing seeds and other plant matter for winter consumption. Murids have sciurognathous jaws (an ancestral character in rodents) and a diastema is present.[5] Murids lack canines and premolars. Generally, three molars (though sometimes only one or two) are found, and the nature of the molars varies by genus and feeding habit.

Reproduction edit

Some murids are highly social, while others are solitary. Females commonly produce several litters annually. In warm regions, breeding may occur year-round. Though the lifespans of most genera are generally less than two years, murids have high reproductive potential and their populations tend to increase rapidly and then drastically decline when food resources have been exhausted. This is often seen in a three- to four-year cycle.[6]

Characteristics edit

The murids are small mammals, typically around 10 cm (3.9 in) long excluding the tail, but ranging from 4.5 to 8 cm (1.8 to 3.1 in) in the African pygmy mouse to 50 cm (20 in) 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.[7]

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 1.0.0.1-31.0.0.1-3.

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.[7]

Evolution edit

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.[8][9][10][11]

Classification edit

The murids are classified in five subfamilies, around 150 genera, and about 834 species.[12]

Subfamilies[13] edit

In literature edit

 
A print showing cats and mice from a 1501 German edition of Aesop's fables

Murids feature in literature, including folk tales and fairy stories. 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.[14] 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".[15] Among Aesop's Fables are The Cat and the Mice and The Frog and the Mouse.[16] 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.[17]

References edit

  1. ^ Aghova, Tatiana; Kimura, Yuri; Bryja, Josef; Dobigny, Gauthier; Granjon, Laurent; Kergoat, Gael J. (2017). "Fossils know it best: using a new set of fossil calibrations to improve the temporal phylogenetic framework of murid rodents (Rodentia: Myomorpha: Muroidea: Muridae)" (PDF): 16. doi:10.1101/180398. S2CID 38794026. Retrieved 29 August 2018. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. ^ "Muridae". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  3. ^ Basic Biology (2015). "Rodents".
  4. ^ a b "ADW: Subfamilies of Muridae". animaldiversity.org. Retrieved 2015-11-08.
  5. ^ "Muridae (Old World mice and rats, gerbils, whistling rats, and relatives)". Animal Diversity Web. Retrieved 2015-11-08.
  6. ^ Nowak, Ronald M. (1999-04-07). Walker's Mammals of the World. JHU Press. ISBN 9780801857898.
  7. ^ a b Berry, R. J.; Årgren, G. (1984), Macdonald, D. (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Mammals, New York: Facts on File, pp. 658–663 & 674–677, ISBN 0-87196-871-1
  8. ^ Savage, R. J. G.; Long, M. R. (1986), Mammal Evolution: an Illustrated Guide, New York: Facts on File, p. 124, ISBN 0-8160-1194-X
  9. ^ Jansa, Sharon. A.; Weksler, Marcelo (2004), (PDF), Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 31 (1): 256–276, doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2003.07.002, PMID 15019624, archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-12-17
  10. ^ Michaux, Johan; Reyes, Aurelio; Catzeflis, François (1 November 2001), , Molecular Biology and Evolution, 18 (11): 2017–2031, doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a003743, ISSN 0737-4038, PMID 11606698, archived from the original on 27 November 2005
  11. ^ Steppan, Scott; Adkins, Ronald; Anderson, Joel (2004), "Phylogeny and divergence-date estimates of rapid radiations in muroid rodents based on multiple nuclear genes" (PDF), Systematic Biology, 53 (4): 533–553, doi:10.1080/10635150490468701, PMID 15371245
  12. ^ Burgin, C. J., Colella, J. P., Kahn, P. L. & Upham, N. S. How many species of mammals are there? J. Mammal. 99, 1–14 (2018)
  13. ^ Steppan, S. J. & Schenk, J. J. Muroid rodent phylogenetics: 900-Species tree reveals increasing diversification rates. PLoS One 12, e0183070 (2017)
  14. ^ Mieder, Wolfgang (2007). The Pied Piper: A Handbook. Greenwood. pp. 71 and passim. ISBN 978-0-313-33464-1.[permanent dead link]
  15. ^ Tolkien, J. R. R. (2001). On Fairy-Stories. HarperCollins. p. 16. ISBN 0-007-10504-5. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  16. ^ Gibbs, Laura (2002–2008). "Aesopica". MythFolklore.net. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  17. ^ Holland, Steve (21 March 2013). "James Herbert obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 June 2014.

External links edit

December 02, 2023
muridae, murids, largest, family, rodents, mammals, containing, approximately, species, including, many, species, mice, rats, gerbils, found, naturally, throughout, eurasia, africa, australia, temporal, range, early, miocene, recent, preꞒ, nhouse, mouse, muscu. The Muridae or murids are the largest family of rodents and of mammals containing approximately 1 383 species 2 including many species of mice rats and gerbils found naturally throughout Eurasia Africa and Australia 3 MuridaeTemporal range Early Miocene Recent 1 PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg NHouse mouse Mus musculusScientific classificationDomain EukaryotaKingdom AnimaliaPhylum ChordataClass MammaliaOrder RodentiaSuperfamily MuroideaFamily MuridaeIlliger 1811Type genusMusLinnaeus 1758SubfamiliesDeomyinae Gerbillinae Lophiomyinae Leimacomyinae Murinae PseudocricetodontinaeThe name Muridae comes from the Latin mus genitive muris meaning mouse since all true mice belong to the family with the more typical mice belonging to the genus Mus Contents 1 Distribution and habitat 2 Diet and dentition 3 Reproduction 4 Characteristics 5 Evolution 6 Classification 6 1 Subfamilies 13 7 In literature 8 References 9 External linksDistribution and habitat editMurids are found nearly everywhere in the world though many subfamilies have narrower ranges Murids are not found in Antarctica or many oceanic islands Although none of them are native to the Americas a few species notably the house mouse and black rat have been introduced worldwide Murids occupy a broad range of ecosystems from tropical forests to tundras Fossorial arboreal and semiaquatic murid species occur though most are terrestrial animals 4 The extensive list of niches filled by murids helps to explain their relative abundance Diet and dentition editA broad range of feeding habits is found in murids ranging from herbivorous and omnivorous species to specialists that consume strictly earthworms certain species of fungi or aquatic insects 4 Most genera consume plant matter and small invertebrates often storing seeds and other plant matter for winter consumption Murids have sciurognathous jaws an ancestral character in rodents and a diastema is present 5 Murids lack canines and premolars Generally three molars though sometimes only one or two are found and the nature of the molars varies by genus and feeding habit Reproduction editSome murids are highly social while others are solitary Females commonly produce several litters annually In warm regions breeding may occur year round Though the lifespans of most genera are generally less than two years murids have high reproductive potential and their populations tend to increase rapidly and then drastically decline when food resources have been exhausted This is often seen in a three to four year cycle 6 Characteristics editThe murids are small mammals typically around 10 cm 3 9 in long excluding the tail but ranging from 4 5 to 8 cm 1 8 to 3 1 in in the African pygmy mouse to 50 cm 20 in 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 7 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 1 0 0 1 3 1 0 0 1 3 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 7 Evolution editAs 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 8 9 10 11 Classification editThe murids are classified in five subfamilies around 150 genera and about 834 species 12 Subfamilies 13 edit 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 edit nbsp A print showing cats and mice from a 1501 German edition of Aesop s fablesMurids feature in literature including folk tales and fairy stories 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 14 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 15 Among Aesop s Fables are The Cat and the Mice and The Frog and the Mouse 16 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 17 References edit Aghova Tatiana Kimura Yuri Bryja Josef Dobigny Gauthier Granjon Laurent Kergoat Gael J 2017 Fossils know it best using a new set of fossil calibrations to improve the temporal phylogenetic framework of murid rodents Rodentia Myomorpha Muroidea Muridae PDF 16 doi 10 1101 180398 S2CID 38794026 Retrieved 29 August 2018 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help Muridae Encyclopaedia Britannica Retrieved 16 November 2021 Basic Biology 2015 Rodents a b ADW Subfamilies of Muridae animaldiversity org Retrieved 2015 11 08 Muridae Old World mice and rats gerbils whistling rats and relatives Animal Diversity Web Retrieved 2015 11 08 Nowak Ronald M 1999 04 07 Walker s Mammals of the World JHU Press ISBN 9780801857898 a b Berry R J Argren G 1984 Macdonald D ed The Encyclopedia of Mammals New York Facts on File pp 658 663 amp 674 677 ISBN 0 87196 871 1 Savage R J G Long M R 1986 Mammal Evolution an Illustrated Guide New York Facts on File p 124 ISBN 0 8160 1194 X Jansa Sharon A Weksler Marcelo 2004 Phylogeny of muroid rodents relationships within and among major lineages as determined by IRBP gene sequences PDF Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 31 1 256 276 doi 10 1016 j ympev 2003 07 002 PMID 15019624 archived from the original PDF on 2008 12 17 Michaux Johan Reyes Aurelio Catzeflis Francois 1 November 2001 Evolutionary history of the most speciose mammals molecular phylogeny of muroid rodents Molecular Biology and Evolution 18 11 2017 2031 doi 10 1093 oxfordjournals molbev a003743 ISSN 0737 4038 PMID 11606698 archived from the original on 27 November 2005 Steppan Scott Adkins Ronald Anderson Joel 2004 Phylogeny and divergence date estimates of rapid radiations in muroid rodents based on multiple nuclear genes PDF Systematic Biology 53 4 533 553 doi 10 1080 10635150490468701 PMID 15371245 Burgin C J Colella J P Kahn P L amp Upham N S How many species of mammals are there J Mammal 99 1 14 2018 Steppan S J amp Schenk J J Muroid rodent phylogenetics 900 Species tree reveals increasing diversification rates PLoS One 12 e0183070 2017 Mieder Wolfgang 2007 The Pied Piper A Handbook Greenwood pp 71 and passim ISBN 978 0 313 33464 1 permanent dead link Tolkien J R R 2001 On Fairy Stories HarperCollins p 16 ISBN 0 007 10504 5 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a work ignored help Gibbs Laura 2002 2008 Aesopica MythFolklore net Retrieved 21 June 2014 Holland Steve 21 March 2013 James Herbert obituary The Guardian Retrieved 21 June 2014 External links editErnest Ingersoll 1920 Mouse Encyclopedia Americana Muridae at Mammal Species of the World Walker s Mammals of the World Google Books 08 Nov 2015 ADW Muridae INFORMATION Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Muridae amp oldid 1176907565, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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