Genus
Mus
Description
Genus Mus Linnaeus, 1758
Rodents of the genus Mus represent one of the most valuable biological models for biomedical and evolutionary research (Macholán et al. 2012). Out of the four currently recognized subgenera, i.e. Mus, Coelomys, Pyromys and Nannomys, the last mentioned comprises the African pygmy mice (Chevret et al. 2005). These are small rodents (4- 12 g in most taxa), endemic to sub-Saharan Africa. The phylogenetic relationships, species diversity, ecology and chromosomal evolution of Nannomys were recently reviewed (Britton-Davidian et al. 2012, Bryja et al. 2014), but there are still numerous unresolved taxonomic issues. While predominantly savanna dwellers (Veyrunes et al. 2005), several species have also been found in forest (Bryja et al. 2014 and references therein). The genus Mus diverged in Asia approximately 6.7 to 7.8 Mya and shortly after this time the ancestors of Nannomys colonized Africa through the Arabian Peninsula and Miocene land bridges. The highly heterogeneous environment of Eastern Africa can thus be considered as the place of first diversification of African Mus in Early Pliocene, followed by a radiation caused by climatic oscillations and habitat modification (Bryja et al. 2014). The subgenus Nannomys is represented in Ethiopia by eight species, five of them are endemic to the country (M. imberbis, M. mahomet and M. sp. “Harena” in the Highlands, M. proconodon and M. sp. “the River Koi” in open savanna-like habitats at lower elevation). Furthermore, the synanthropic species with worldwide distribution, M. musculus (from subgenus Mus) has also been documented in Ethiopia as an alien species.
Taxonomy
Mus is a genus. It belogs to the Muridae family.There are 8 lower taxonomic units covered in this database.
