Dormouse

Dormice Fossil range: Early Eocene–Recent PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
African dormouse, Graphiurus sp.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Rodentia Suborder: Sciuromorpha Family: Gliridae Muirhead in Brewster, 1819
Subfamilies and Genera
Graphiurinae Graphiurus Leithiinae Chaetocauda Dryomys Eliomys †Hypnomys Muscardinus Myomimus Selevinia Glirinae Glirulus Glis

Dormouse is the common name for any rodent of the family Gliridae (also known as Myoxidae or Muscardinidae), characterized by a generally 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). Many are adapted to a predominantly arboreal existence, while others live only on the ground; they are largely nocturnal. Dormouse are particularly known for their long periods of hibernation, with the etymology of the common name itself tracing from the word to sleep.

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

Dormice historically and currently have been used by humans as food, with records of such usage dating back thousands of years. In Ancient Rome, the edible dormouse was considered a delicacy, often used as either as a savory appetizer or as a dessert (dipped in honey and poppy seeds), with the Romans using a special kind of enclosure, a glirarium to rear the dormice for the table. Ranging in length from about 5 to 7.5 inches without the tail, the edible dormouse has stores of fat reserves that make them desirable as food and dormouse fat also was used by the Elizabethans to induce sleep.

Ecologically, this species also plays a valued role in food chains, with species having a diet that ranges from largely vegetarian to predominantly carnivorous, and being consumed by such predators as owls, snakes, weasels, and hawks. However, various pressures, including habitat destruction, have result in half of the species being at conservation risk.

Physical description

Many dormice have a squirrel-like or chipmunk-like appearance, including a bushy and long tail. Both dormice and squirrles are rodents in the Sciurognathi suborder, but are members of different families. However, a number of dormice have more of a resemblance to a mouse or rat, including thinner, more naked tails. Among those with more mice-like tails are members of the genera Myomimus (known as mouse-tailed dormice, such as Roach's mouse-tailed dormouse, M. roachi) and such species as the desert dormouse, Selevinia betpakdalaensis, the sole member of its genera. While long, the tail is not prehensile. The fur of dormice is typically thick and soft (Niemann 2004).

Dormice range in size from about 2.5-3.1 inches (6.5-8 centimeters) in the Japanese dormouse (Glirulus japonicus) to 5.1-7.5 inches 913-19 centimeters) in the edible dormouse, Myoxus glis (or Glis glis) (Niemann 2004).

The feet of dormice have four toes on the front feet and five toes on the hind feet. The feet are adapted for an arboreal life style, with strong, curved claws on each toe and cushioned pads on the soles that assist in gripping. Furthermore, the hind feet are like the feet of squirrels in that they can be turned backwards, allowing the mammal to descent trees easily and hang head-first on a branch to feed (Niemann 2004).

Behavior and ecology

Most species are nocturnal. Dormice have an excellent sense of hearing, and signal each other with a variety of vocalisations.

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:

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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.

Dormice will shed their tails in grabbed by a predator ??

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.

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.

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. 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.

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
• 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

• 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.

• Niemann, D. W. 2004. Dormice (Myoxidae). Pages 317 to 318 in B. Grzimek et al., Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia, 2nd edition, vol. 16, mammals V. Detroit, MI: Thomson/Gale. ISBN 0787657921

External links

• "Dormouse" at BBC Wales Nature
• Glirarium.org (English) (German)
• Fauna of Europe: Glis glis

Rodent Families

Template:Gliridae nav

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