Dormice
| Dormice | ||||||||||||
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Common dormouse ( Muscardinus avellanarius ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Gliridae | ||||||||||||
| Thomas , 1897 |
The dormouse (Gliridae; outdated also Myoxidae), also called dormouse , dormouse or dormouse , are a family of the order of rodents (Rodentia) with around 30 species. They occur in Europe , Asia and Africa . In Central Europe they are represented by the dormouse , the garden dormouse , the dormouse and the very rare tree dormouse.
Characteristics and behavior
Depending on the species, dormice show differently pronounced similarities on the one hand to mice and on the other hand to squirrels . As with mice, the eyes are very large and the ears small and round. The head-trunk length is 6 to 19 cm, the tail length 4 to 16 cm. A distinctive feature is the strikingly long and bushy tail ; an exception is the mouse sleeper genus with sparsely hairy tails.
Dormice prefer to live in trees and bushes. Depending on their habitat, they sleep in winter or dry season. At night they go in search of food. They resemble croissants in many ways. Like this they eat nuts , fruits and insects as well as bird eggs and young birds as complementary food.
Systematics
Due to their mouse-like appearance, the dormice were long considered to be mouse relatives (Myomorpha). On the basis of molecular genetic studies, however, a relationship with the squirrels seems more likely, so more recent works therefore lead them in the subordination of the squirrel relatives (Sciuromorpha). Only the previously named subfamily of the stachelbilche is actually correctly classified with the mice , and thus not with the dormouse.
Wilson & Reeder 2005 and later also the Handbook of the Mammals of the World distinguish three subfamilies of the dormouse after the separation of the stachelbilche. In molecular biological studies, the three subfamilies were confirmed as monophyletic groups , with the Graphiurinae being the most original taxon and being compared to the common taxon from Glirinae and Leithiinae as a sister group .
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There are different opinions about the number of species within the dormouse, especially within the African dormouse the number of species can vary. According to the Handbook of the Mammals of the World from 2016, the following taxa are distinguished with a total of 29 species:
- Subfamily Graphiurinae
- African dormouse ( Graphiurus ), 15 species
- Subfamily Glirinae
- Subfamily Leithiinae
- Tree dormouse ( Dryomys ), three types
- Chinese dormouse ( Chaetocauda ), a species
- Garden dormouse ( Eliomys ), three species
- Dormouse ( Muscardinus ), a species
- Mouse sleeper ( myomimus ), three types
- Saltwort bilche ( Selevinia ), a species
nomenclature
There has been some confusion about the scientific name of the family, since the synonym Myoxidae is particularly common in Anglo-Saxon literature . This is based on the name of the dormouse , whose genus Glis was also often referred to as Myoxus . Wilson & Reeder argued that the generic name Glis appeared in a work with non-binomial nomenclature and is therefore invalid. Many authoritative works had followed this view at the time. In 1998 the ICZN put an end to this dispute with an arbitration award. In the fall of 1894 , she declared Glis to be the valid name. Consequently, Gliridae is also the correct family name. The use of Myoxus and Myoxidae is thus definitely rejected.
supporting documents
- ↑ Hartmut Poschwitz: dormouse, garden dormouse and dormouse, rare inhabitants of forests, orchards and hedges. natur-in-nrw.de, 2008, accessed on September 17, 2017 .
- ^ A b Mary Ellen Holden-Musser, R. Juškaitis, GM Musser: Genus Myomimus. In: Don E. Wilson, TE Lacher, Jr., Russell A. Mittermeier (Eds.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World: Lagomorphs and Rodents 1. (HMW, Volume 6) Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2016, p. 867 ff., ISBN 978-84-941892-3-4 .
- ^ Claudine Montgelard, Conrad A. Matthee, Terence J. Robinson: Molecular systematics of dormice (Rodentia: Gliridae) and the radiation of Graphiurus in Africa. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 270, 2003; Pp. 1947-1955. doi : 10.1098 / rspb.2003.2458 .
literature
- Mary Ellen Holden-Musser, R. Juškaitis, GM Musser: Genus Myomimus. In: Don E. Wilson, TE Lacher, Jr., Russell A. Mittermeier (Eds.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World: Lagomorphs and Rodents 1. (HMW, Volume 6) Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2016, p. 838 -889, ISBN 978-84-941892-3-4 .
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD et al. 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 .
- Don E. Wilson, DeeAnn M. Reeder (Eds.): Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. 2nd edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC et al. 1993, ISBN 1-56098-217-9 .
- Don E. Wilson, DeeAnn M. Reeder (Eds.): Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. 2 volumes. 3rd edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 .
