Difference between revisions of "Dormouse" - New World Encyclopedia

Dormouse is the common name for any rodent of the family Gliridae (also known as Myoxidae or Muscardinidae), characterized by a squirrel- or -chipmunk-like shape, large eyes, short and curved claws, and in most species a bushy and long tail. Some species have thin and naked tails, such as the mouse-tailed dormice (genus Myomimus). Nine extant genera are commonly recognized and twenty-six species. Because only one species of dormouse is native to the British Isles, the hazel dormouse or common dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius), in everyday English usage the term dormouse usually refers to this specific species. (The edible dormouse, Glis glis, has been accidentally introduced to the British Isles). Dormouse are particularly known for their long periods of hibernation and the name itself comes from the French word, dormir, meaning to sleep.

Dormice historically and currently have been used by humans as food, with records of such usage dating back thousands of years and the Romans raising dormice in glisaria for such purposes. Ecologically, this species plays a valuable role in food chains, ranging from having a largely vegetarian diet to predominantly carnivorous, and being consumed by such predators as owls, snakes, weasels, and hawks. Half of the species are at a conservation risk.

The hazel dormouse gained fame as a character in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, where he is often found falling asleep during the scene.

Characteristics

Dormice are small for rodents, with body lengths between 6 and 19 cm (2.4 and 7.5 in), and weights between 15 and 200 g (0.53 and 7.1 oz). They are generally mouse-like in appearance, but with furred, rather than scaly tails. They are largely but not exclusively 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.^[1]

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:

1.0.0-1.3

Dormice breed once or maybe twice a year, producing litters with an average of four young after a gestation period of 21-32 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.^[1]

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 remains sufficiently cool, 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.^[1]

Their name is based on this trait; it comes from Anglo-Norman dormeus, which means "sleepy (one)"; the word was later altered by folk etymology to resemble the word "mouse". The sleepy behaviour of the dormouse character in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland also attests to this trait.

Relationship with humans

The edible dormouse 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 rear dormice for the table.^[1] Dormice to this day are eaten in Slovenia.^[2] Dormouse fat was used by the Elizabethans to induce sleep.^[3]

Evolution

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.^[4] 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.^[5]

Classification

The family consists of 29 living species, in three subfamilies and (arguably) 9 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
  - Jouhnston'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 ^[6]
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
- Genus Hypnomys† (Balearic dormouse)
  - Majorcan giant dormouse, Hypnomys morphaeus†
  - Minorcan giant dormouse, Hypnomys mahonensis†
- 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
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 Baudoin, Claude (1984). in Macdonald, D.: The Encyclopedia of Mammals. New York: Facts on File, 678–680. ISBN 0-87196-871-1.
↑ Freedman, Paul. "Meals that Time Forgot", gourmet.com, March 2008.
↑ "10 ways to get a really good sleep", BBC News Magazine, 27 March 2009.
↑ Storch, G. & Seiffert, C. (2007). Extraordinarily preserved specimen of the oldest known glirid from the middle Eocene of Messel (Rodentia). Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology 27 (1): 189–194.
↑ (1986) Mammal Evolution: an illustrated guide. New York: Facts on File, 119. ISBN 0-8160-1194-X.
↑ "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. 2009.

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 (English) (German)
Fauna of Europe: Glis glis

Rodent Families

Anomaluromorpha: Anomaluridae | †Parapedetidae | Pedetidae

† indicates extinct taxa

Template:Gliridae nav

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[EoM-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 Baudoin, Claude (1984). in Macdonald, D.: The Encyclopedia of Mammals. New York: Facts on File, 678–680. ISBN 0-87196-871-1.

[2] Freedman, Paul. "Meals that Time Forgot", gourmet.com, March 2008.

[3] "10 ways to get a really good sleep", BBC News Magazine, 27 March 2009.

[Turner-4] Storch, G. & Seiffert, C. (2007). Extraordinarily preserved specimen of the oldest known glirid from the middle Eocene of Messel (Rodentia). Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology 27 (1): 189–194.

[MamEv-5] (1986) Mammal Evolution: an illustrated guide. New York: Facts on File, 119. ISBN 0-8160-1194-X.

[6] "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. 2009.

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 *''[[Edible dormouse|Glis]]''
 }}
-'''Dormouse''' is the common name for any [[rodent]] of the family '''Gliridae''' (also known as ''Myoxidae'' or ''Muscardinidae''), characterized by a squirrel- or -chipmunk-like shape, large eyes, short and curved claws, and in most species a bushy and long tail. Nine extant genera are commonly recognized. Some species have thin and naked tails, such as the mouse-tailed dormice (genus ''Myomimus''). Nine extant genera are commonly recognized and twenty-six species.  Because only one species of dormouse is native to the [[British Isles]], the hazel dormouse or common dormouse (''Muscardinus avellanarius''), in everyday English usage the term dormouse usually refers to this specific species. (however, the edible dormouse, ''Glis glis'', has been accidentally introduced to the British Isles). Dormouse are particularly known for their long periods of [[hibernation]].
+'''Dormouse''' is the common name for any [[rodent]] of the family '''Gliridae''' (also known as ''Myoxidae'' or ''Muscardinidae''), characterized by a squirrel- or -chipmunk-like shape, large eyes, short and curved claws, and in most species a bushy and long tail. Some species have thin and naked tails, such as the [[mouse]]-tailed dormice (genus ''Myomimus''). Nine extant [[genus|genera]] are commonly recognized and twenty-six [[species]].  Because only one species of dormouse is native to the [[British Isles]], the hazel dormouse or common dormouse (''Muscardinus avellanarius''), in everyday English usage the term dormouse usually refers to this specific species. (The edible dormouse, ''Glis glis'', has been accidentally introduced to the British Isles). Dormouse are particularly known for their long periods of [[hibernation]] and the name itself comes from the French word, ''dormir'', meaning to sleep.
+Dormice historically and currently have been used by humans as [[food]], with records of such usage dating back thousands of years and the Romans raising dormice in ''glisaria'' for such purposes. Ecologically, this species plays a valuable role in [[food chain]]s, ranging from having a largely vegetarian diet to predominantly carnivorous, and being consumed by such predators as [[owl]]s, [[snake]]s, [[weasel]]s, and [[hawks]]. Half of the species are at a conservation risk.
+The hazel dormouse gained fame as a character in ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' by Lewis Carroll, where he is often found falling asleep during the scene.