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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007) |
| Wood Mouse | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Apodemus sylvaticus (Linnaeus, 1758) |
The wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus), also called the long-tailed field mouse, is a common murid rodent that was recognised as a distinct species in 1894. It is closely related to the yellow-necked mouse (Apodemus flavicollis) but differs in that it has no band of yellow fur around the neck, has slightly smaller ears, and is usually slightly smaller overall: around 90mm in length. If a wood mouse is caught by its tail, it can quickly shed the end of it, which may never regrow[1]. The wood mouse does not hibernate and, despite its name, it prefers hedgerows to woodland. It is found across most of Western Europe and is a very common and widespread species, is commensal with people and is sometimes considered a pest.[2]
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Habitat
Almost entirely nocturnal, wood mice burrow extensively, digging a series of chambers and runs. Their usual habitat is woodlands, fields and hedgerows, although they are also found in open grassland.
Behavior
Wood mice are primarily seed eaters, particularly seeds of trees such as oak, beech, ash, lime, hawthorn and sycamore. If there is plentiful amount f seeds on the ground, they carry them back to their nests/burrows for storage. They may eat small invertebrates such as snails and insects, particularly in late spring and early summer when seeds are least available. They also consume berries, fruits and roots. They do not hibernate, however during severe winter seasons they fall into a sort of torpor; a decrease in physiological activity. They are mainly active during the dark, and are ery good climbers.
Reproduction
The wood mouse has a breeding season from February to October in which multiple matings occur between males and females resulting in scramble competition. Such behavioral characteristics result in sperm competition and multiple paternity litters. The society is polygynous with copulation resulting from scramble competition during reproductive periods. Males possess a sac known as the cauda epididymus which stores sperm and lies underneath the scrotum protrusion. Temperature regulation ensures maximum sperm output.
One interesting observation about the species, in particular the males is the morphology of the spermatozoa. They develop falciform (sickle shaped) heads after meiosis and before spermiation (release during ejaculation). The hook located at the tip pf the head adheres to the surface of the head prior to deployment. Propidium iodide staining revealed that only the basal surface of the hook is of nuclear origin [3]. These apical hooks are deployed in female reproductive tract (mechanism responsible involved the remodeling of actin filaments in the hook [4]). Deployed apical hooks combine with apical hooks and flagella of other spermatozoa. The aggregates of spermatozoa that result from "mobile trains", which have experimentally been determined to possess better motility in the female reproductive tract [5]. The mobility of these mobile trains was also found to be influenced by premature acrosome reactions, altruistic acts performed by some spermatozoa for the benefit of other genetically similar gametocytes. This altruism follows a "green beard" mechanism in which spermatozoa discern the genetic similarity of surrounding gametocytes (such mechanisms are rare because they must code for a recognizable phenotype as well as response mechanisms). Once spermatozoa of similar genotypes are identified, altruism genes are turned on to elicit a response that seeks to conserve the genes present in the other cell, even it it results in the destruction of the cell performing the action.
The gestation period of wood mouse are 25-26 days and each female produceson average 5 young. The offspring become independant after about three weeks and become sexually active after two months.
Rodent-borne Diseases
It has been discovered that African wood mouse in can transmit Hantavirus; a life threatening human disease, in Eurasia and the Americas.[6]
References
- ^ Goaman, K., Amery, H. (1983). Mysteries & Marvels of the Animal World: pg.15
- ^ Schlitter & Van der Straeten (2004). Apodemus sylvaticus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern
- ^ Moore, Harry et al, Exceptional sperm cooperation in Wood Mouse.Nature 418, 174-177 (2002).
- ^ Moore, Harry et al, Exceptional sperm cooperation in Wood Mouse.Nature 418, 174-177 (2002).
- ^ Moore, Harry et al, Exceptional sperm cooperation in Wood Mouse.Nature 418, 174-177 (2002).
- ^ Klempa B,Hantavirus in African wood mouse, Guinea.Institute of Virology, 2006;12(5):838-40.
External links
- Apodemus sylvaticus in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History MSW Scientific Names
- Apodemus sylvaticus in the Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist
- Apodemus sylvaticus in Fauna Europaea
- Apodemus sylvaticus in the Animal Diversity Web
- The wood mouse, an excellent article in French
- The market effect in the wood mouse, an excellent abstract of research done on grooming and reproduction in wood mouse
