Birch mouse explained

Birch mice (genus Sicista) are small jumping rodents that resemble mice with long, tufted tails and very long hind legs, allowing for remarkable leaps. They are the only extant members of the family Sminthidae.^[1] They are native to Eurasian forests and steppes. All variants possess a long tail of 65to of length and weigh about 6to. Head and body length of 50to and hind foot length of 14to.^[2] The animal's skin color is light brown or dark-brown to brownish yellow on the upper side and paler on the underside, but generally brownish.^[2] Birch mice have a vast geographic distribution in that they inhabit a wide variety of habitats, from semiarid areas to subalpine meadows.^[3] Although they have a diverse region of areas, their molecular and anatomical markers have claimed that Birch mice originated from Central Asia.^[4] Birch mice have a systematic of the genus of Sicista, they look at the male reproductive organs and cytogenic data.^[5]

Species

Nineteen species are listed by the American Society of Mammalogists as of 2021:

• Armenian birch mouse, Sicista armenica
• Northern birch mouse, Sicista betulina
• Caucasian birch mouse, Sicista caucasica
• Long-tailed birch mouse, Sicista caudata
• Tsimlyansk birch mouse, Sicista cimlanica
• Chinese birch mouse, Sicista concolor
• Kazbeg birch mouse, Sicista kazbegica
• Kluchor birch mouse, Sicista kluchorica
• Nordmann's birch mouse, Sicista loriger
• Altai birch mouse, Sicista napaea
• Gray birch mouse, Sicista pseudonapaea
• Severtzov's birch mouse, Sicista severtzovi
• Strand's birch mouse, Sicista strandi
• Southern birch mouse, Sicista subtilis
• Talgar birch mouse, Sicista talgarica
• Terskey birch mouse, Sicista terskeica
• Tien Shan birch mouse, Sicista tianshanica
• Hungarian birch mouse, Sicista trizona
• Zhetysu birch mouse, Sicista zhetysuica

Phylogeny

All species of Sicista cluster into five major lineages: S. betulina, S. caucasica, S. caudata, S. tianschanica, and S. concolor.^[6]

Notes and References

1. Lebedev. Vladimir S.. Bannikova. Anna A.. Pagès. Marie. Pisano. Julie. Michaux. Johan R.. Shenbrot. Georgy I.. 2013. Molecular phylogeny and systematics of Dipodoidea: a test of morphology-based hypotheses. Zoologica Scripta. en. 42. 3. 231–249. 10.1111/zsc.12002. 86686066 . 1463-6409. free.
2. Book: Ronald M. Nowak. Walker's mammals of the world. 4 January 2012. 1999. JHU Press. 978-0-8018-5789-8. 1329–.
3. Cserkész, T., Fülöp, A., Almerekova, S. et al. J Mammal Evol (2019) 26: 147. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-017-9409-6
4. Cserkész . Tamás . Fülöp . Attila . Almerekova . Shyryn . Kondor . Tamás . Laczkó . Levente . Sramkó . Gábor . March 2019 . Phylogenetic and Morphological Analysis of Birch Mice (Genus Sicista, Family Sminthidae, Rodentia) in the Kazak Cradle with Description of a New Species . Journal of Mammalian Evolution . en . 26 . 1 . 147–163 . 10.1007/s10914-017-9409-6 . 1064-7554.
5. Cserkész, T., Rusin, M., & Sramkó, G. (2016). integrative systematic revision of the European southern birch mice (Rodentia: Sminthidae, Sicista subtilis group). Mammal Review, 46(2), 114–130. https://doi.org/10.1111/mam.12058
6. Lebedev . Vladimir . Rusin . Mikhail . Zemlemerova . Elena . Matrosova . Vera . Bannikova . Anna . Kovalskaya . Yulia . Tesakov . Alexey . Phylogeny and evolutionary history of birch mice Sicista Griffith, 1827 (Sminthidae, Rodentia): Implications from a multigene study . Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research . August 2019 . 57 . 3 . 695–709 . 10.1111/jzs.12279. 91273821 . free .