Mus musculus

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From Garrett et al. (2024): House mice (Mus musculus) are one of the most biomedically, economically, and ecologically important rodent species. House mice are the premier mammalian model system for biomedical research and an important zoonotic vector for diseases such as hantavirus, salmonellosis, leptospirosis, lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCMV), tularemia, and plague. From an economic perspective, house mice cause wide-ranging impacts on food production through crop destruction and contamination of stored foods. Despite the importance of house mice across these different contexts, the extent of their geographic distribution is not well understood. House mice are human commensals but are nonetheless sensitive to their prevailing environment, indicating that the range of human settlement cannot be used as a reliable proxy. Existing range maps for Mus musculus are based on minimum convex hulls informed by potentially biased sampling and do not 1) fully integrate large, digitized data documenting species occurrences, 2) provide insight into the likely species distribution in under-sampled regions, and 3) delineate internal structures of the range, including barriers to dispersal or unsuitable internal habitat. Consequently, we know little about the bioclimatic tolerance and environmental envelope occupied by this species." The range map to the right was produced from a range map for Mus musculus published by Garrett et al. (2024), which is based on intersecting no-omission thresholds for BIOCLIM, MaxEnt, and GLM modeling approaches. This map should be used to generally understand the range of the species in North America and should not be used to make determinations about the species presence or absence on small islands or at the northern limit of its estimated range. This is a wide-ranging species and its range will likely continue to expand with human expansion and climate change.

Description

From Armstrong et al. (2010): "This is a small, slender, brown to blackish brown mouse with a sparsely haired, scaly tail. The underparts are slightly paler in color than the dorsum without any clear line of demarcation. The ears are relatively large and sparsely haired." Additionally, "House mice also have a characteristic strong, musky odor produced by anal glands. Once acquainted with that odor, one can recognize the presence of a house mouse in a closed trap simply by the scent."

From Best & Hunt (2020): "This is a small mouse, gray to grayish-brown on the dorsum, grading without sharp demarcation to paler gray or tan on the ventrum. The fur is short. Black, brown, and white individuals sometimes occur, especially among domesticates. The tail is about 50% of total length, scaly, and almost hairless. The rostrum is pointed, ears are prominent, and the small, black eyes protrude somewhat. Upper incisors lack anterior grooves and when viewed laterally have a small squared notch near their tips on the posterior side."

External measurements

Length measurements are in millimeters (mm) and weight measurements are in grams (g), unless stated otherwise. If available, the sample size (n=) is provided. If a range is not provided and n= is not given, then the listed measurement represents an average.

Part of range	Reference	Total length	Tail length	Hindfoot length	Ear length	Mass
Alabama	Best & Dusi (2014)	159 (140–197) (n=25)	75 (62–102) (n=25)	17 (12–19) (n=25)	13 (8–14) (n=17)	17 (13–25) (n=7)
California	Jameson & Peeters (2004)	155–204	70–95	17–20	11–16	12–24
Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland	Webster et al. (1985)	140–180	58–93			18–23
Colorado	Armstrong et al. (2010)	130–200	60–105	14–21	11–18	18–23
Minnesota	Hazard (1982)	150–177	67–85	17–20	11.5–13	13.5–35.3
North Dakota	Seabloom et al. (2020)	160	75	18	12	13–35
Texas	Schmidly & Bradley (2016)	169	93	18		17–25
Virginia	Linzey (1998)	150–185	74–100			14–28

Color variation

• 
  Georgia, Baker County
• 
  Kansas, Riley County
• 
  Kansas, Riley County
• 
  Kansas, Riley County

Similar species

From Armstrong et al. (2010): "Superficially this species might be confused with the harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys). However, harvest mice have grooves on the upper incisors, which are lacking in the house mouse."

Skull characters

From Armstrong et al. (2010): "The skull is flattened and has a short rostrum. Cusps of the molars are aligned in 3 longitudinal rows. The first upper molar is longer than the combined length of the second and third molars."

From Best & Hunt (2020): "Upper incisors lack anterior grooves and when viewed laterally have a small squared notch near their tips on the posterior side."

• 

  Skull of Mus musculus

References

Armstrong DM, Fitzgerald JP, Meaney CA. 2010. Mammals of Colorado, Second Edition. Denver (CO, USA): University Press of Colorado.

Best TL, Dusi JL. 2014. Mammals of Alabama (Vol. 4). Tuscaloosa (AL, USA): University Alabama Press.

Best TL, Hunt JL. 2020. Mammals of the southeastern United States. Tuscaloosa (AL, USA): University Alabama Press.

Garretson AC, Blanco-Berdugo LA, Dumont BL. 2024. Mapping the Global Distribution of Mus musculus: Implications for Evolutionary Genetics. bioRxiv: 2024-07.

Hazard EB. 1982. The mammals of Minnesota. Minneapolis (MN, USA): University of Minnesota Press.

Jameson EW, Peeters HJ. 2004. Mammals of California (No. 66). Berkeley (CA, USA): University of California Press.

Linzey DW. 1998. The mammals of Virginia. McDonald & Woodward Publishing.

Schmidly DJ, Bradley RD. 2016. The mammals of Texas. Austin (TX, USA): University of Texas Press.

Seabloom R, Hoganson JW, Jensen WF. 2020. The mammals of North Dakota. Fargo (ND, USA): North Dakota State University Press.

Webster WD, Parnell JF, Biggs WC. 1985. Mammals of the Carolinas, Virginia, and Maryland. Chapel Hill (NC, USA): University of North Carolina Press.