Apodemus is a genus of murid (true mice and rats) containing the field mice as well as other well-known species like the wood mouse and the yellow-necked mouse. The name is unrelated to that of the Mus genus, instead being derived from the Greek á¼ÂÃÂÃÂ-ô÷üÿà(literally away from home).
Taxonomy
Related to the RyÃ
«kyÃ
« spiny rats (Tokudaia) and the prehistoric Rhagamys â and far more distantly to Mus and Malacomys â it includes these species:
Apodemus sensu stricto
Alsomys
Sylvaemus
- Alpine field mouse, A. alpicola
- Yellow-necked mouse, A. flavicollis â includes A. arianus
- Caucasus field mouse, A. hyrcanicus
- Ward's field mouse, A. pallipes
- Black Sea field mouse, A. ponticus
- Wood mouse, A. sylvaticus
- Ural field mouse, A. uralensis
- Pygmy field mouse, A. u. microps
- Cimrman Ural field mouse, A. u. cimrmani
- Steppe field mouse, A. witherbyi
Karstomys
Incertae sedis
Prehistoric species described from fossil remains include:
- A. gorafensis (Late Miocene/Early Pliocene of Italy)
- A. dominans <small>(Kolzoi 1959)</small>
References
Further reading
- Steppan, S.J.; Adkins, R.M.; Spinks, P.Q. & Hale, C. (2005): Multigene phylogeny of the Old World mice, Murinae, reveals distinct geographic lineages and the declining utility of mitochondrial genes compared to nuclear genes. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 37(2): 370âÂÂ388. <small></small> PDF fulltext
- Darvish, J.; Javidkar, M.; Siahsarvie, R. 2006. A new species of wood mouse of the genus Apodemus (Rodentia, Muridae) from Iran Zoology in the Middle East