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Wood mouse
Found in: Fauna of Turkey
The wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus), also called the long-tailed field mouse, is a common 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. The wood mouse does not hibernate and, despite its name, it prefers hedgerows to woodland. It is found across most of Europe and is a very common and widespread species, is commensal with people and is sometimes considered a pest.
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.
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
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Wood mouse