Micromys minutus (Pallas 1771)

[Mus] minutus Pallas 1771, Reise Prov. Russ. Reichs, Vol. 1: 454.

Type Locality: Russia, Ulyanovsk. Obl. Middle Volga River, Simbirsk (now Ulyanovsk).

Vernacular Names: Harvest Mouse.

Synonyms: Micromys agilis Dehne 1841; Micromys aokii Kuroda 1922; Micromys arundinaceus (Petenyi 1882); Micromys arvensis (Leach 1816); Micromys avenarius (Wolf 1794); Micromys batarovi (Kastschenko 1910); Micromys berezowskii Argyropulo 1929; Micromys brauneri Martino 1930; Micromys campestris (Desmarest 1822); Micromys danubialis Simonescu 1971; Micromys erythrotis (Blyth 1856); Micromys fenniae (Hilzheimer 1911); Micromys flavus (Kerr 1792); Micromys hertigi Johnson and Jones 1955; Micromys hondonis Kuroda 1933; Micromys japonicus Thomas 1906; Micromys kastschenkoi Charlamagne 1915; Micromys kurodai Mori 1942; Micromys kytmanovi (Kastschenko 1910); Micromys mehelyi Bolkay 1925; Micromys meridionalis (Costa 1844); Micromys messorius Kerr 1792; Micromys minatus (Schinz 1840); Micromys minimus (White 1789); Micromys oryzivorus (de Sélys-Longchamps 1841); Micromys parvulus (Hermann 1804); Micromys pendulinus (Hermann 1804); Micromys pianmaensis Peng 1981; Micromys pratensis (Ockskay 1831); Micromys pumilus (F. Cuvier 1842); Micromys pygmaeus (Milne-Edwards 1872); Micromys sareptae (Hilzheimer 1911); Micromys shenshiensis Li, Wu, and, Shao 1965; Micromys soricinus Hermann 1780; Micromys subobscurus Fritsche 1934; Micromys takasagoensis Tokuda 1939; Micromys takasagoensis Tokuda 1941; Micromys triticeus (Boddaert 1785); Micromys typicus (Barrett-Hamilton 1899); Micromys ussuricus (Barrett-Hamilton 1899); Micromys zhenjiangensis Huang 1989 .

Distribution: From NW Spain through most of Europe (including Thrace region of Turkey; Kryštufek and Vohralík, 2001, but missing from the Alps, Portugal, and most of Sweden, Norway, Italy, and Spain; Mitchell-Jones et al., 1999), across Siberia to Ussuri region and Korea (Won and Smith, 1999), north to about 65°E in European Russia and Yakutia, south to N edge of Caucasus and N Mongolia (Gromov and Erbajeva, 1995); isolated ranges in NW China (Xinjiang) and throughout S and NE China (from SE Xizang in west to Heilongjiang and Nei Mongol in far northeast; Wang, 2003, and Zhang et al., 1997); south to NW Vietnam (Dang et al., 1994), N Burma (Anthony, 1941; Ellerman, 1961), and NE India (Meghalaya and Nagaland; Agrawal, 2000). Island distributions include Britain; Texel, Terschelling, and Ameland off coast of Netherlands in Wadden Sea (Mostert, 1992 b; Naber, 1982); Japan (Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, and Tsushima), Quelpart Isl (Korea), and Taiwan (M.-J. Yu, 1996); see Corbet (1978 c) for details, and map by Gromov and Erbajeva (1995). Possibly introduced to the Japanese Isls because no fossils have ever been found while all the Japanese endemic muroids are represented by Pleistocene and Holocene fossils (Kowalski and Hasegawa, 1976). The species also occurs in Great Britain where it was also probably introduced (Sutcliffe and Kowalski, 1976; Yalden, 1999).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (nt).

Discussion: Reviewed by Corbet (1978 c, 1984). Chromosomal information reported by Jüdes (1981), Zima (1983), Lungeanu et al. (1984), Solleder et al. (1984), and Schmid et al. (1987). Results of morphometric analyses of selected European samples and its significance to applying subspecific names to the geographic variation reported by Kratochvíl and Simionescu (1983). Alveolar pattern of molar roots and comparisons with those of Rattus and Apodemus reported by Gallego (1974). Phallic morphology of Chinese samples described by Yang and Fang (1988) in context of assessing relationships among Chinese murines. Haffner (1996) described a tendon-locking mechanism in M. minutus that is engaged when the middle phalanx is bent so that less muscular energy is expended when twigs or stalks are grasped. This structure should be compared with digits in species of the related Vandeleuria and Vernaya .

European populations reviewed by Böhme (1978 a) and Mitchell-Jones et al. (1999). Indomalayan populations reviewed by Corbet and Hill (1992), who discussed the morphological differences between European and Indomalayan samples. Regional reports covering range, ecology, and other biological aspects available for S Norway (Kooij et al., 2001) and SW Sweden, where it was introduced by humans and is now possibly extinct (Hansson and Fredga, 1996); N Germany (Dolch et al, 1994); Austria (Bauer and Spitzenberger, 1996); Slovakia (Danko, 1994; Kminiak, 1996; Stanko, 1995; Stanko and Mošanský, 1994, 2000; Stanko et al., 2000); Czech Republic (And�ra and ervený, 1994; Miloš, 1994; Smaha, 1996; Zima and And�ra, 1996); Translvanian Romania (Istrate, 1998); Slovenia (Kryštufek, 1991); SE Greece (Thrace; Vohralík and Sofianidou, 1992 a); Albania (Prigioni, 1969); Serbia and Montenegro (Kryštufek and Kovacic, 1984; Petrov, 1992); Bulgaria (Peshev, 1996; Vohralík, 1985); N Spain in Navarra region (Castién and Gosálbez, 1992); N Italy (Agnelli and Lazzeretti, 1995, who also documented identity of Mus meridionalis with M. minutus; Amori et al., 1999; Paolucci et al., 1993); Baltic region (Miljutin, 1997, 1998; Timm et al., 1998;); Lithuania (Juškaitis and Baranauskas, 2001); Netherlands (Mostert, 1992 b; Thissen and Hollander, 1996); Belgium (Libois, 1996); Great Britain (Perrow and Jowitt, 1995, who also described decline and future of populations); and Japan (Dobson, 1994; Kaneko, 1994). European late Pleistocene and Pleistocene records reviewed by Kowalski (2001).