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Lifespan, longevity, and ageing

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Maximum longevity: 4.3 years (captivity) Observations: One captive specimen lived 4.3 years (Richard Weigl 2005).
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Joao Pedro de Magalhaes
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de Magalhaes, J. P.
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Brief Summary

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The African pygmy mouse, Mus minutoides, is a tiny little animal abundant and widely spread across sub-Saharan Africa, especially in grasslands and savannas. Mus minutoides is classified as one of 19 species in the sub-Saharan subgenus Nannomys. This species is closely related to Mus misculoides, and especially in the northern part of its range, distinguishing between these two species becomes complicated, as they appear to form a species complex. Mus minutoides is also fairly closely related to the ubiquitous house mouse, Mus musculus (although M. musculus, is in a different subgenus, Mus). African pygmy mice are commonly kept in captivity as pets. One of the smallest of the rodents, moreover, one of the smallest African mammals, the African pygmy mouse grows to about 5 g in weight and an adult length of about 11 cm, (with a tail making up about half that length). These mice mainly eat grass seeds and small insects, forage nocturnally, and live in individual family units in burrows that they make usually under fallen logs or in piles of debris. They live about 2 years, and have a prolific breeding cycle in which first mating occurs at 4-6 weeks of age and they can produce a litter of 1-6 mice every 20 days. Although in mammals the Y chromosome usually confers male sex determination, studies have found that up to 75% of female pygmy mice in Southern and Eastern Africa carry both a Y and an X chromosome, indicating that this species may have a different mechanism for determining gender. The X chromosome of XY females has been examined and found to be morphologically different from the X chromosomes found in XX females and XY males, and is hypothesized to contain an as yet undetermined mutation which prevents masculinization of XY individuals, so that they develop as females. (Monadjem 2008; Mpushini wildlife; Veyrunes et al. 2010; Veyrunes et al. 2006; Wikipedia 2011)
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African pygmy mouse

provided by wikipedia EN

The African pygmy mouse (Mus minutoides) is one of the smallest rodents. It is widespread within sub-Saharan Africa, and is kept as a pet in other parts of the world. Like the common house mouse, it is a member of the enormous superfamily Muroidea, which includes about 1000 different species.

Grey to brick-red overall, it is pale on the underside and has small but prominent triangular ears. Adults are between 30 and 80 mm (1.2 and 3.1 in) long, with a 15 to 40 mm (0.59 to 1.57 in) tail, and weigh from 2 to 12 g (0.071 to 0.423 oz).

African pygmy mice reach breeding age at about 6 to 8 weeks. Pregnancy lasts for around 20 days and the litter of about three young is born blind and hairless. Their eyes open after 2 weeks, and weaning is complete after 4 weeks. The lifespan is about 2 years, although individual specimens have been reported to live over 4 years in captivity. longest recordded lifespan of the African dwarf mouse is 4 years 6 months.

The African pygmy mouse has a number of unique traits. It stacks pebbles in front of its burrow. Overnight, the pebbles gather dew and in the morning, the pygmy mouse drinks the dew on the pebbles. After that, it retires to its den. Its method of sex determination has also been found to differ from most mammals[2] in that rearrangements of the X chromosome have led to many XY individuals actually being female.

They live in colonies or in pairs in grass close to water and are excellent climbers.

As pets

Pygmy mice are often kept as pets, but require social interaction, so should always be kept as pairs or small colonies.[3] They have quite simple care needs, and are active during both day and night,[4] but cannot be handled due to the risk of inadvertently causing internal damage due to their small size and tendency to jump when startled. Despite their size, they can jump up to 50cm. Domestically, they are often kept in a covered aquarium so that they do not escape.[3]

References

  1. ^ Monadjem, A. (2008). "Mus minutoides". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 4 May 2014.old-form url Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern
  2. ^ Frederic Veyrunes; Pascale Chevret; et al. (2010). "A novel sex determination system in a close relative of the house mouse". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 277 (1684): 1049–1056. doi:10.1098/rspb.2009.1925. PMC 2842770. PMID 20007182.
  3. ^ a b African Pygmy Mouse. Heritage-pets.tripod.com. Retrieved on 2012-12-28.
  4. ^ African Pygmy Mice Overview – Crittery Exotics. Crittery.co.uk. Retrieved on 2012-12-28.
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African pygmy mouse: Brief Summary

provided by wikipedia EN

The African pygmy mouse (Mus minutoides) is one of the smallest rodents. It is widespread within sub-Saharan Africa, and is kept as a pet in other parts of the world. Like the common house mouse, it is a member of the enormous superfamily Muroidea, which includes about 1000 different species.

Grey to brick-red overall, it is pale on the underside and has small but prominent triangular ears. Adults are between 30 and 80 mm (1.2 and 3.1 in) long, with a 15 to 40 mm (0.59 to 1.57 in) tail, and weigh from 2 to 12 g (0.071 to 0.423 oz).

African pygmy mice reach breeding age at about 6 to 8 weeks. Pregnancy lasts for around 20 days and the litter of about three young is born blind and hairless. Their eyes open after 2 weeks, and weaning is complete after 4 weeks. The lifespan is about 2 years, although individual specimens have been reported to live over 4 years in captivity. longest recordded lifespan of the African dwarf mouse is 4 years 6 months.

The African pygmy mouse has a number of unique traits. It stacks pebbles in front of its burrow. Overnight, the pebbles gather dew and in the morning, the pygmy mouse drinks the dew on the pebbles. After that, it retires to its den. Its method of sex determination has also been found to differ from most mammals in that rearrangements of the X chromosome have led to many XY individuals actually being female.

They live in colonies or in pairs in grass close to water and are excellent climbers.

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