Southern birch mouse

The southern birch mouse (Sicista subtilis) is a species of birch mouse in the family Dipodidae.[2] It is found on the Balkan Peninsula, Ukraine, Romania, southern Russia and one isolated location in Hungary in the Borsodi Mezőség Protected Landscape Area. The Hungarian subspecies (S. subtilis trizona) is critically endangered and strictly protected. The first living specimen was captured after a 70-year-long hiatus in 2006.

Southern birch mouse
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Dipodidae
Genus: Sicista
Species:
S. subtilis
Binomial name
Sicista subtilis
(Pallas, 1773)

The most prominent characteristic of the southern birch mouse is the dark stripe down the center of the back, which is bordered by two narrow bright stripes on both sides. From head to rump it measures from 56 to 72 mm, with a tail from 110 to 130% of the main body length. The background fur color is gray-brown.

The southern birch mouse is pronouncedly a steppe dweller. It makes a burrow in the summer and hibernates. It eats green plants and insects.[3]

References
  1. Kryštufek, B.; Zagorodnyuk, I. & Amori, G. (2008). "Sicista subtilis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008: e.T20194A9177133. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T20194A9177133.en.
  2. Holden, M.E.; Musser, G.G. (2005). "Family Dipodidae". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 871–893. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  3. Andrew T. Smith; Yan Xie (2008). A guide to the mammals of China. Princeton University Press. pp. 207–. ISBN 978-0-691-09984-2. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  • (in German) Macdonald D. : Die Große Enzyklopädie der Säugetiere, Könemann Verlag in der Tandem Verlag GmbH, Königswinter, 2004.
  • (in German) Detlef Schilling u. a. : BLV Bestimmungsbuch Säugetiere, BLV Verlagsgesellschaft, 1983 ISBN 3-405-12846-3

This page is based on a translation of the corresponding article from the German Wikipedia.


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