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Southern birch mouse
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Sminthidae
Genus:	Sicista
Species:	S. subtilis
Binomial name
Sicista subtilis (Pallas, 1773)

The southern birch mouse (Sicista subtilis) is a species of birch mouse in the family Sminthidae. It is native to southern Russia, Kazakhstan, and potentially northern Mongolia and China.

Taxonomy

The Hungarian birch mouse (S. trizona) and Nordmann's birch mouse (S. loriger) were previously thought to be subspecies representing isolated western populations of S. subtilis, but phylogenetic and anatomical evidence supports them being distinct species.

A 2018 study detected a distinct, previously unknown genetic lineage of S. subtilis in the North Caucasus.

Description

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.

Ecology

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

References

1. Cserkész, T.; Kennerley, R. (2018) . "Sicista subtilis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T91934441A123795199. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T91934441A22204448.en. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
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. "Explore the Database". www.mammaldiversity.org. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
4. ^ Trust), Rosalind Kennerley (Durrell Wildlife Conservation; Cserkész, Tamás (2017-05-15). "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Sicista subtilis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
5. Cserkész, Tamás; Rusin, Mikhail; Sramkó, Gábor (2016). "An integrative systematic revision of the European southern birch mice (Rodentia: Sminthidae, Sicista subtilis group)". Mammal Review. 46 (2): 114–130. doi:10.1111/mam.12058. ISSN 1365-2907.
6. Lebedev, Vladimir; Poplavskaya, Natalia; Bannikova, Anna; Rusin, Mikhail; Surov, Alexey; Kovalskaya, Yulia (2020-03-01). "Genetic variation in the Sicista subtilis (Pallas, 1773) species group (Rodentia, Sminthidae), as compared to karyotype differentiation". Mammalia. 84 (2): 185–194. doi:10.1515/mammalia-2018-0216. ISSN 1864-1547. S2CID 202024134.
7. 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.

• 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 (in German)

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• v
• t
• e

• IUCN Red List least concern species
• Sicista
• Mammals of Russia
• Fauna of Kazakhstan
• Mammals of Mongolia
• Mammals of China
• Mammals described in 1773
• Habitats Directive species
• Taxa named by Peter Simon Pallas
• Rodent stubs