harvest mouse

harvest mouse
1. an Old World field mouse, Micromys minutus, that builds a spherical nest among the stems of grains and other plants.
2. any of several New World mice of the genus Reithrodontomys having similar habits.
[1805-15]

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rodent
Introduction
 either of two genera of small mice: the American harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys) or the Old World harvest mouse (Micromys).

American harvest mice
      The 20 species of American harvest mice are widespread, being found from southern Canada to northern South America at elevations ranging from below sea level to above the timberline in the northern Andes Mountains. They live in prairies, grassy fields with shrubs or trees, meadows, temperate and tropical forests, and cultivated fields. One, the salt-marsh harvest mouse (R. raviventris), lives only in the tidal salt marshes surrounding San Francisco Bay in California and is listed as an endangered species under federal and state laws. American harvest mice are nocturnal and are active all year. Although terrestrial, they are excellent climbers and build globular nests of vegetation either on the ground or above it in grass, sedge, shrubs, or trees. Their diet includes seeds, flowers, cactus fruit, succulent green sprouts, and invertebrates. Weight varies among species from 6 to 20 grams (0.2 to 0.7 ounce) and body length from 5 to 15 cm (1.9 to 5.9 inches); the slender, scantily haired tail may be either shorter or longer than the body. Fur is soft and ranges in colour from pale buff gray to shades of brown or blackish, with underparts of white or gray, sometimes tinted with buff.

      New World harvest mice belong to the subfamily Sigmodontinae of the mouse family Muridae within the order Rodentia (rodent). Their ancestry is seen in the North American geologic record back to the Early Pliocene Epoch (5.3 million to 3.6 million years ago). Their closest living relatives are deer mice (deer mouse).

Old World harvest mouse
      The single species of Old World harvest mouse (Micromys minutus) lives from Great Britain and Europe westward to Siberia and Korea, southern China, Assam, and Japan. As suggested by its scientific name, it is among the smallest of rodents, weighing less than 7 grams and having a body length of less than 8 cm. The semiprehensile tail is about the same length as the body and is scantily haired. The soft fur is brownish yellow to reddish brown above, white to buff on the underparts.

      The Old World harvest mouse is an agile climber that prefers tall vegetation such as hedgerows, grasses, reeds, bamboo, and cultivated grain or rice fields. It is active all year and is primarily but not entirely nocturnal. During breeding season this mouse constructs globular nests of grass suspended between vertical stems up to 13 cm above ground; during the rest of the year, nests are located in holes in the ground, beneath haystacks, or in buildings. The Old World harvest mouse eats seeds and other vegetation in addition to insects and the eggs of small birds. Modern farm machinery may be destroying the animal's food and nesting resources in Great Britain and Europe, where populations are apparently declining.

      The Old World harvest mouse belongs to the subfamily Murinae of the mouse family Muridae. While some investigators recognize only one species of Micromys, others speculate that additional species exist. Fossils of six extinct Eurasian species date back as far as the Late Pliocene Epoch (3.6 million to 1.8 million years ago). Wood mice (wood mouse) are the closest living relatives of the Old World harvest mouse.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Harvest mouse — Harvest Har vest (h[aum]r v[e^]st), n. [OE. harvest, hervest, AS. h[ae]rfest autumn; akin to LG. harfst, D. herfst, OHG. herbist, G. herbst, and prob. to L. carpere to pluck, Gr. karpo s fruit. Cf. {Carpet}.] 1. The gathering of a crop of any… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • harvest mouse — ► NOUN ▪ a small mouse with a prehensile tail, nesting among the stalks of growing cereals …   English terms dictionary

  • harvest mouse — n. 1. a very small European mouse (Micromys minutus) that builds its nest among the stalks of wild plants and growing grain 2. any of a genus (Reithrodontomys) of very small New World mice with a very long tail …   English World dictionary

  • Harvest Mouse — Taxobox name = Harvest Mouse status = LR/nt | status system = IUCN2.3 fossil range = Late Miocene Recent image width = 220px regnum = Animalia phylum = Chordata classis = Mammalia ordo = Rodentia superfamilia = Muroidea familia = Muridae… …   Wikipedia

  • harvest mouse — pelė mažylė statusas T sritis zoologija | vardynas taksono rangas rūšis atitikmenys: lot. Micromys minutus angl. harvest mouse; Old World harvest mouse vok. europäischer Zwergmaus; Hafermaus; Zwergmaus rus. мышь малютка pranc. rat des moissons;… …   Žinduolių pavadinimų žodynas

  • harvest mouse — noun 1. any of several small greyish New World mice inhabiting e.g. grain fields • Syn: ↑American harvest mouse • Hypernyms: ↑New World mouse • Member Holonyms: ↑Reithrodontomys, ↑genus Reithrodontomys 2. small …   Useful english dictionary

  • harvest mouse — noun 1》 a small North Eurasian mouse with a prehensile tail, nesting among the stalks of growing cereals. [Micromys minutus.] 2》 a nocturnal mouse found in North and Central America. [Genus Reithrodontomys: several species.] …   English new terms dictionary

  • harvest mouse — noun A species of the sub family Murinae (Old World rats and mice) …   Wiktionary

  • harvest mouse — /havəst ˈmaʊs/ (say hahvuhst mows) noun a small rodent, Micromys minutus, of the family Muridae, inhabiting cornfields and hedgerows of Europe and Asia, and 10 cm long, half of this length consisting of the prehensile tail …  

  • Chiriqui Harvest Mouse — Conservation status Least Concern (IUCN 2.3) Scientific classification …   Wikipedia

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