Southern birch mouse explained

The southern birch mouse (Sicista subtilis) is a species of birch mouse in the family Sminthidae. It is native to southern Russia, Kazakhstan, and potentially northern Mongolia and China.^{[1] [2]}

Taxonomy

The Hungarian birch mouse (S. trizona) and Nordmann's birch mouse (S. loriger) were previously thought to be subspecies representing isolated western populations of S. subtilis, but phylogenetic and anatomical evidence supports them being distinct species.^[3]

A 2018 study detected a distinct, previously unknown genetic lineage of S. subtilis in the North Caucasus.^[4]

Description

The most prominent characteristic of the southern birch mouse is the dark stripe down the center of the back, which is bordered by two narrow bright stripes on both sides. From head to rump it measures from 56 to 72 mm, with a tail from 110 to 130% of the main body length. The background fur color is gray-brown.

Ecology

The southern birch mouse is pronouncedly a steppe dweller. It makes a burrow in the summer and hibernates. It eats green plants and insects.^[5]

References

• Macdonald D. : Die Große Enzyklopädie der Säugetiere, Könemann Verlag in der Tandem Verlag GmbH, Königswinter, 2004.
• Detlef Schilling u. a. : BLV Bestimmungsbuch Säugetiere, BLV Verlagsgesellschaft, 1983

This page is based on a translation of the corresponding article from the German Wikipedia.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Explore the Database. 2021-11-20. www.mammaldiversity.org.
2. Trust). Rosalind Kennerley (Durrell Wildlife Conservation. Cserkész. Tamás. 2017-05-15. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Sicista subtilis. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
3. Cserkész. Tamás. Rusin. Mikhail. Sramkó. Gábor. 2016. An integrative systematic revision of the European southern birch mice (Rodentia: Sminthidae, Sicista subtilis group). Mammal Review. en. 46. 2. 114–130. 10.1111/mam.12058. 1365-2907.
4. Lebedev. Vladimir. Poplavskaya. Natalia. Bannikova. Anna. Rusin. Mikhail. Surov. Alexey. Kovalskaya. Yulia. 2020-03-01. Genetic variation in the Sicista subtilis (Pallas, 1773) species group (Rodentia, Sminthidae), as compared to karyotype differentiation. Mammalia. en. 84. 2. 185–194. 10.1515/mammalia-2018-0216. 202024134 . 1864-1547.
5. Book: Andrew T. Smith. Yan Xie. A guide to the mammals of China. 4 January 2012. 2008. Princeton University Press. 978-0-691-09984-2. 207–.