Mouse
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- For other uses, see Mouse (disambiguation).
{{Taxobox | color = pink | name = Mouse | fossil_range = Late Miocene - Recent | image = house_mouse.jpg | image_width = 250px | image_caption = House mouse, Mus musculus | regnum = Animalia | phylum = Chordata | classis = Mammalia | ordo = Rodentia | superfamilia = Muroidea | familia = Muridae | subfamilia = Murinae | genus = Mus | genus_authority = Linnaeus, 1758 }} Image:Mouse vermin02.jpg
A mouse is a mammal that belongs to one of numerous species of small rodents in the genus Mus and various related genera of the family Muridæ (Old World Mice).
The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (Mus musculus). It is found in nearly all countries and, as the laboratory mouse, serves as an important model organism in biology; it is also a popular pet. (Non-biologists often use the term "mouse" synonymously with "Mus musculus"). The American white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) and the deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) also sometimes live in houses. These species of mice live commensally with humans. Although they may live up to two years in the lab, the average mouse in the wild lives only 3 months, primarily due to heavy predation. Cats, wild dogs, birds-of-prey, and snakes prey heavily upon mice.
Mice can be harmful pests, damaging and eating crops and spreading diseases through their parasites and feces. The original motivation for the domestication of cats is thought to have been for their predation of mice and their relatives, the rats. A mouse trap can also be used to catch mice.
Mice cannot see colors, but they can see shades from black to white.
There are 38 species in the genus Mus.
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Diet
Mice generally live on a herbivore diet, but are actually omnivores: they will eat meat, the dead bodies of other mice, and have been observed to self-cannibalise their tails during starvation. Grasshopper mice are an exception to the rule, being the only fully carnivorous mice. Mice eat grains and fruits for a regular diet. (Which is the main reason they damage crops.)
Mice in laboratory experiments
Mice are very common experimental animals in biology and psychology primarily because they are mammals, and thus share a high degree of homology with humans, but can be manipulated in ways that would be considered unethical to do with humans. They are a primary mammalian model organism, as are rats.
Additional benefits of mice in laboratory research include the fact that mice are small, relatively inexpensive, and several generations can be observed in a short period of time. The mouse genome has been sequenced, and most mouse genes have human homologs.
Inbred strains
Usually genetically uniform strains of mice are used in experiments. These inbred strains are commonly created by mating closely related mice, such as brothers and sisters, for over twenty consecutive generations. Except for sex differences, two mice belonging to the same inbred strain are nearly genetically indistinguishable[1]. They are also homozygous at all genetic locations. As genetic variation is minimized, experiments using inbred mice have the potential for to be highly repeatable and are especially valuable in genetic crosses. The genotype, phenotype, and genealogyftp://www.informatics.jax.org/pub/datasets/misc/genealogy/genealogy.pdf of commonly used inbred mouse strains are well-characterized. The C57BL/6 strain, also known as "Black 6" is one of the most commonly used strains.
As in inbred human populations, inbred mice often show characteristics that are not common in the wild. This is usually due to the appearance recessive alleles of genes that are masked by dominant alleles in more heterogeneous populations. Sometimes these characteristics may be predispositions towards certain diseases. Other times they may be protections from disease. For instance, the C3H strain develops hardened arteries much less often than ordinary mice. These predispositions vary widely between inbred strains depending. This often facilitates studying particular diseases, though one must carefully select strains for use in disease models based on the susceptibilities each strain exhibits. As a result, one downside of using inbred mice is that they are not representative of "wild" mice and in many cases may make poor models for human biology.
The "nude" mouse
One interesting inbred strain is the nude mouse. Nude mice bear mutations that result in a lack of hair and an impaired immune system, particularly the lack of lymphocyte populations. Nude mice can be used in cancer studies as they do not reject cells and tissue from other mice or even other species which can be tested in the mouse for tumor-forming capacities.
Knockout mice
Knockout mice are mice which have had a specific gene or genes inactivated, either through deletion or disruption of the portion of the genome containing the gene in question.[2] This enables the study of the function of that gene and genes interacting with it. Knockout mice have aided the study of many conditions including heart disease, diabetes, cancer, obesity, arthritis, and Parkinson's disease. Some genes are essential for survival; it is impossible to create viable mice without working copies of these genes. To circumvent this, conditional knockout mice have been developed. In these animals, the gene to be studied may be knocked out only in specific tissues or at specific stages in development. Thus, viable mice lacking the gene of interest may be generated.
Biosatellite experiment
In the 2006 Biosatellite project, a group of mice will orbit Earth inside a spinning spacecraft to determine how mice react to gravity equivalent to that of Mars. [3]
Mice in fiction
Mice are popular in fiction, usually as anthropomorphic funny animals.
It is perhaps ironic that although they have been regarded by mankind as pests for ages, they are often featured as sympathetic in books and cartoons. Perhaps this may be because, due to their famously small size, they are considered the embodiment of "the little guy". Indeed, in many depictions, such as Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, humans are the enemy and mice are the protagonists.
Animated mice
Mickey Mouse in particular is recognized throughout the whole world.
Jerry (of Tom and Jerry) is also extremely well known, and are part of the list of fictional mice.
Itchy, from The Simpson's Itchy and Scratchy cartoon-in-a-cartoon, is also a mouse. The cartoon is a violent parody of the classic, 'Tom and Jerry'.
Speedy Gonzales is a cartoon mouse from the Looney Tunes. Speedy would often humiliate his adversary Sylvester the cat.
Pinky and The Brain are two cartoon mice who regularly attempt to take over the world
The Secret of NIMH is an animated adaptation of Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH.
DangerMouse had his own secret agent cartoon with his sidekick Penfold.
Pikachu is a yellow mouse in the Pokémon series.
Stewart Little from the movie and the book.
Poetry
Robert Burns' famous poem "To a Mouse", written in 1785, gave us the immortal proverb "the best-laid schemes of mice and men gang aft agley". Burns, who owned a farm for a time, was inspired to write the poem after he had disturbed a field mouse's nest with his plow on a cold November day. The poem could be described as his "apology" to the mouse, and it expresses his apparent longing that man could once again be part of nature's "social union".
Allegory
There is also Franz Kafka's short story, "Josephine the Singer", an allegorical story about the role of the artist in society, where society is represented by a community of mice and the artist is a mouse named Josephine, with a gift of song.
The book Who Moved My Cheese? features mice adapting to change, specifically, running out of cheese. This book is occasionally given to employees facing layoffs.
Other fiction
Reepicheep is a bold, courageous mouse from The Chronicles of Narnia. He wields a rapier; his headstrong behavior lends irony to his being a mouse.
The Redwall series by Brian Jacques is a series about an abbey of talking, human-sized mice, confronted by various challenges to their abbey in each book.
In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, white mice are pan-dimensional beings who commissioned the construction of a giant computer, the Earth, that would provide for them the question of the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. This is revealed after the earth is destroyed by a Vogon construction crew five minutes before the question is finally calculated. The mice re-appear to commission a second earth and discover Arthur Dent, the sole survivor of earth's destruction, and offer to buy his brain, expecting it to contain the question which they seek. See Races and Species in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Mice as pets
- Main article: Fancy mouse
Mice are now one of the leading rodent pets. Although their main purpose in pet stores is to be sold as snake food, many people buy mice as companion pets. Some common products used are:
- Cage- Usually a hamster or gerbil cage, but special mouse cages are now available
- Food- Special pelleted and seed-based food is available.
- Bedding- Usually hardwoods, such as aspen. Cedar or pine should not be used because it contains harmful oils that can damage any rodent's respiratory system. A fairly new product in the market is recycled virgin wood pulp, an environmentally-friendly, safe, clean, and efficient product. The most popular is Carefresh bedding. Another excellent litter available is chopped-up dried corn cobs.
Some benefits of having mice as pets are
- Minimal shedding and allergens
- Entertaining and affectionate
- Inexpensive
- Clean (contrary to popular belief)
- Socially self-sufficient (when in a group of other mice)
There are, however, some disadvantages to having pet mice
- Small and quite fragile (not as easy to handle as a dog or a cat)
- Nocturnal
- Frequent eye infections under stress
- Easily subject to disease when without optimal care
- Frequent reproduction
- Short lifespan
- The male's urine gives off an unpleasant odor
Taxonomy of the genus Mus
- Genus Mus
- Subgenus Pyromys
- Mus platythrix
- Mus saxicola
- Mus philipsi
- Mus shortridgei
- Mus fernandoni
- Subgenus Coelomys
- Mus mayori
- Mus pahari
- Mus crociduroides
- Mus vulcani
- Mus famulus
- Subgenus Mus
- Mus caroli
- Mus cervicolor
- Mus cookii
- Mus booduga
- Mus terricolor
- Mus musculus
- Mus spretus
- Mus macedonicus
- Mus spicelegus
- Mus fragilicauda
- Subgenus Nannomys
- Mus callewaerti
- Mus setulosus
- Mus triton
- Mus bufo
- Mus tenellus
- Mus haussa
- Mus mattheyi
- Mus indutus
- Mus setzeri
- Mus musculoides
- Mus minutoides
- Mus orangiae
- Mus mahomet
- Mus sorella
- Mus kasaicus
- Mus neavei
- Mus oubanguii
- Mus goundae
- Mus baoulei
- Subgenus Pyromys
Trivia
An estimated half a million mice live on the London Underground, mostly running around the tracks.
Two mice of opposite sexes can produce up to 5,000 offspring in a year.
See also
Template:Wiktionary Template:Commons Template:Wikispecies
External links
- Impact of Mice on endangered species
- Fancy Mice 'A complete resource for pet owners and show breeders'
- Rat@Genesh 'Ganesh rides a Mouse'
- PetCo (see care sheets for pet mouse information)
- Mice at PetWebSite
- Mice fansite
- Mice fanlisting
- Mice as petsar:فأر
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