Mus musculus Linnaeus, 1758

The house mouse (Mus musculus) probably has a world distribution more extensive than any mammal apart from humans. Its geographic spread has been facilitated by its commensal relationship with humans which extends back at least 8,000 years. They do considerable damage by destroying crops and consuming and/or contaminating food supplies intended for human consumption. They are prolific breeders, sometimes errupting and reaching plague proportions. They have also been implicated in the extinction of indigenous species in ecosytems they have invaded and colonised which are outside their natural range. An important factor in the success of the house mouse is their behavioural plasticity brought about by the decoupling of genetics and behaviour. This enables the house mouse to adapt quickly and to survive and prosper in new environments.

Mus musculus was originally a Palaearctic species, but through its close association with humans it has been widely introduced across the globe (Musser and Carleton, 2005). The species is widespread over all continents, except Antarctica, and has become established in North and South America, sub-Saharan Africa, Australia, and many oceanic islands (Macholán 1999). The list of countries of occurrence is incomplete.

Maximum longevity: 4 years (captivity) Observations: A major model of biomedical research, mice are amongst the fastest ageing mammals exhibiting a variety of physiological, functional and pathological changes with age. The record longevity for normal mice is 4 years, belonging to one wild-derived specimen (Miller et al. 2002). Mutant and caloric restricted mice, however, can live over 4 years (Bartke and Brown-Borg 2004), though these are not deemed suitable for species comparisons. Record longevity belongs to a mutant dwarf mouse that lived 1819 days (Andrzej Bartke, pers. comm.). Smaller mice tend to live longer (Miller et al. 2002).

House mice are eaten by a wide variety of small predators throughout the world, including Felis silvestris, Vulpes vulpes, Mustela, Mustela, Herpestidae, large Squamata, Squamata, Accipitridae, Falconidae, and Strigiformes. House mice try to avoid predation by keeping out of the open and by being fast. They are also capable of reproducing very rapidly, which means that populations can recover quickly from predation.

Known Predators:

• domestic cats (Felis_silvestris)
• red foxes (Vulpes_vulpes)
• weasels (Mustela)
• ferrets (Mustela)
• mongooses (Herpestidae)
• large lizards (Squamata)
• snakes (Serpentes)
• hawks (Accipitridae)
• falcons (Falconidae)
• owls (Strigiformes)