Wood Mouse
Conservation status
Least Concern
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Rodentia Superfamily: Muroidea Family: Muridae Subfamily: Murinae Genus: Apodemus Species: A. sylvaticus
Binomial name
Apodemus sylvaticus (Linnaeus, 1758)

The wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus), also called the long-tailed field mouse, is a common rodent that was recognised as a distinct species in 1894. It is closely related to the yellow-necked mouse (Apodemus flavicollis) but differs in that it has no band of yellow fur around the neck, has slightly smaller ears, and is usually slightly smaller overall: around 90mm in length. If a wood mouse is caught by its tail, it can quickly shed the end of it, which may never regrow^[1]. The wood mouse does not hibernate and, despite its name, it prefers hedgerows to woodland. It is found across most of Europe, extending north into southern Scandinavia and the British Isles.^[2] Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1435x1076, 769 KB) Summary Apodemus sylvaticus by Pethan October 9, 2005 The Netherlands Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: Rodent Wood mouse Apodemus Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner... The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive either in the present day or the future. ... Image File history File links Status_iucn3. ... Least Concern (LC) is an IUCN category assigned to extant species or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. ... “Animalia” redirects here. ... Typical Classes Subphylum Urochordata - Tunicates Ascidiacea Thaliacea Larvacea Subphylum Cephalochordata - Lancelets Subphylum Myxini - Hagfishes Subphylum Vertebrata - Vertebrates Petromyzontida - Lampreys Placodermi (extinct) Chondrichthyes - Cartilaginous fishes Acanthodii (extinct) Actinopterygii - Ray-finned fishes Actinistia - Coelacanths Dipnoi - Lungfishes Amphibia - Amphibians Reptilia - Reptiles Aves - Birds Mammalia - Mammals Chordates (phylum Chordata) include the vertebrates, together with... Subclasses & Infraclasses Subclass †Allotheria* Subclass Prototheria Subclass Theria Infraclass †Trituberculata Infraclass Metatheria Infraclass Eutheria Mammals (class Mammalia) are warm-blooded, vertebrate animals characterized by the production of milk in female mammary glands and the presence of hair, three middle ear bones used in hearing, and a neocortex region in the... Suborders Sciuromorpha Castorimorpha Myomorpha Anomaluromorpha Hystricomorpha Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents. ... Families see text Muroidea is a large superfamily of rodents. ... Subfamilies Deomyinae Gerbillinae Lophiomyinae Leimacomyinae Murinae Muridae is the largest family of mammals. ... Genera See text. ... Species See text Apodemus is a genus of Eurasian field mice. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal system of naming species. ... Carl Linnaeus, Latinized as Carolus Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as  , (May 23, 1707[1] – January 10, 1778), was a Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist[2] who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of nomenclature. ... Suborders Sciuromorpha Castorimorpha Myomorpha Anomaluromorpha Hystricomorpha Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents. ... 1894 (MDCCCXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Binomial name Apodemus flavicollis (Melchior, 1834) The Yellow-necked Mouse Apodemus flavicollis is closely related to the wood mouse, with which it was long confused, only being recognised as a separate species in 1894. ... A human neck. ... This article refers to the process of hibernation in biology. ... For other meanings, see hedge. ... Limber Pine woodland, Toiyabe Range, central Nevada Biologically, a woodland is a treed area differentiated from a forest. ... Scandinavia is a historical and geographical region centered on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe and includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. ... The British Isles in relation to mainland Europe The British Isles (French: , Irish: [1] or Oileáin Iarthair Eorpa,[2] Manx: Ellanyn Goaldagh, Scottish Gaelic: , Welsh: ), is a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe comprising Great Britain, Ireland and a number of smaller islands. ...

Habitat

Almost entirely nocturnal, wood mice burrow extensively, digging a series of chambers and runs. Their usual habitat is woodlands, fields and hedgerows, although they are also found in open grassland. A nocturnal animal is one that sleeps during the day and is active at night - the opposite of the human (diurnal) schedule. ... Limber Pine woodland, Toiyabe Range, central Nevada Biologically, a woodland is a treed area differentiated from a forest. ... A green field or paddock In agriculture, a field refers generally to an area of land enclosed or otherwise and used for agricultural purposes such as: Cultivating crops Usage as a paddock or generally an enclosure of livestock Land left to lie fallow or as arable land See also Pasture... In gardening a hedge is a row of woody plants, generally of one species, used to demarcate spaces. ...

History

The geographical isolation and recent glacial history of Shetland have resulted in a depleted mammalian fauna. The wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus L.), along with the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus Berkenhout) and the house mouse (Mus musculus domesticus Schwartz & Schwartz), are one of only three recorded types of rodent present on the island. Based largely on morphological studies of epigenetic variations, the source of the original founding population has been attributed to Norway with the most obvious date of introduction being presumed to be around the 9th century AD with the arrival of the Vikings. However, archaeological evidence now suggests that this species was present during the Middle Iron Age (around 200 BC - AD 400), and one theory proposes that Apodemus was in fact introduced from Orkney where a population had existed since at the least the Bronze Age.^[3] Shetland (formerly spelled Zetland, from etland, Scottish Gaelic: ) formerly called Hjaltland, is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. ... Binomial name Rattus norvegicus (Berkenhout, 1769) The Brown Rat or Norway Rat (Rattus norvegicus) is one of the most well-known and common rats, and also one of the largest. ... Binomial name Mus musculus Linnaeus, 1758 Mus musculus is the common house mouse. ... Epigenetic inheritance is the transmission of information from a cell or multicellular organism to its descendants without that information being encoded in the nucleotide sequence of the gene. ... The name Viking is a loan from the native Scandinavian term for the Norse seafaring warriors who raided the coasts of Scandinavia, Europe and the British Isles from the late 8th century to the 11th century, the period of European history referred to as the Viking Age. ... Iron Age Axe found on Gotland This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age, for the mythological Iron Age see Iron Age (mythology). ... Location Geography Area Ranked 16th  - Total 990 km²  - % Water  ? Admin HQ Kirkwall ISO 3166-2 GB-ORK ONS code 00RA Demographics Population Ranked 32nd  - Total (2005) 19,590  - Density 20 / km² Politics Orkney Islands Council http://www. ... The Bronze Age is a period in a civilizations development when the most advanced metalworking has developed the techniques of smelting copper from natural outcroppings and alloys it to cast bronze. ...

Field Mouse

"Field mouse" is the name for a large group of mice in the UK but the true field mouse is the long-tailed field mouse or wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus). They have a solid brown coat with a white belly as shown in the picture. For their size, they have very large eyes and ears. They grow to roughly 10cm long and weigh 30 grams when full grown. They are omnivorous and eat a range of seeds, worms, berries, small insects and carrion. In deciduous woodland they will eat acorns and sycamore seeds for the winter, buds in spring, insects and seeds in summer and berries and fungi in autumn. However they will eat their own tail if faced with starvation. They are prey to many animals, including owls and foxes and therefore have a short life, normally living for 6 to 12 months. However in captivity they can live for over 20 months. They live in any place where it can find food or shelter but traditionally live in hedgerows, forests and grass lands. They make their nests wherever it is warm and there is cover. This means that they will usually nest underground but will nest in other warm environments. They are mostly nocturnal and have great hearing and vision. However, they prefer dark moonless nights. They live in a series of tunnels underground and some can be quite complicated. Food is sometimes stored in underground burrows but food has been found in disused bird nests and other small holes. They generally eat the pips and not the flesh of the fruits. They have nests made of leaves, moss and grass in these tunnels. In winter, the wood mouse will sometimes fill the nest with extra material and may block the entrance with sticks and stones. They will sleep in clumps of grass and leaves like in this picture. The wood mouse has been proven to be extremely intelligent. If given time, it will think out a strategy before doing something. It is also very fast for its size and can go at almost ten strals per hour. They have extremely small but sharp claws, which they use to dig into houses to scavenge food. They assess a situation before doing anything. They will judge whether it is too risky, dangerous or useless and they often look out for each other. However, if they are being chased, they will dart undercover or into small nooks and crannies.

References

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List and Red Data List), created in 1963, is the worlds most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species and can be found here. ... The World Conservation Union or International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is an international organization dedicated to natural resource conservation. ...

External links

• Apodemus sylvaticus in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History MSW Scientific Names
• Apodemus sylvaticus in the Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist
• Apodemus sylvaticus in Fauna Europaea
• Apodemus sylvaticus in the Animal Diversity Web
• The wood mouse, an excellent article in French