Mus minutoides  also known as the African Pygmy Mouse is a close relative to the common house mouse. This small creature has few characteristics that set the African Pygmy Mouse apart from other rodents. Mus minutoides is the smallest mouse in the world. this animal has a lifespan of 2 to 3 years. Some have been reported to live up to 4 years in captivity.

                                  

The African Pygmy Mouse has fur that is the shade of red brick and pale on its under- side. This mouse has prominent triangular like ears. When born they are hairless and blind like most house mice. They can be the size of a quarter, to be exact, ''African pygmy mice can be five to seven centimeters, 2 to 2.08 inches long including their tail, which is usually as long if not longer than the body of the mouse.'' They can weigh from 3 to 12 grams, or eleven hundredths to forty-two hundredths of an ounce. Most of the females are larger than most of the males.

                                  

Most of Mus minutoides are found south of the Sahara in Africa. They usually live in groups  or pairs . They like t o live  in grassy areas next to rivers, lakes, and ponds they are definitely not a desert species. Pygmy mice are native to south Africa ,Swaziland, Malawi, Agolo, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique but can be scattered into other nearby countries as well.

                                  

The diet of an African Pygmy mouse contains a large amount of water. They also have a good amount of seeds and insects, the insects that they mostly eat are buffalo worms and small crickets. These animals have a very fast metabolism so they need to have their food and water sources to be nearby their den. 

                                  

Some interesting facts about the African Pygmy Mouse is the mice that live in the wild will stack pebbles near the front of their den so that over night the pebbles collect dew and in the morning they sip the dew off of the pebbles. Another interesting fact is, Its gender is determined by the (x) chromosome rather than the (Y) chromosome unlike most mammals. And those are some interesting facts that I found out about the African Pygmy Mouse.

                                  

Mus minutoides a very interesting animal , I have never heard of this animal before but now I know so much. I never knew that such a small creature can live in a place like Africa.  

 

Author: Julia B
Published: 02/2011

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Sources: 

"The African Pygmy Mouse - The World's Smallest Mouse - Pictures and Facts." Animal Pictures | Facts about Mammals. Web. 12 Feb. 2011.

 <http://thewebsiteofeverything.com/animals/mammals/Rodentia/Muridae/Mus/Mus-minutoides.html>.

 

"African Pygmy Mouse." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 13 Feb. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Pygmy_Mouse>.

 

Nowak, Ronald M. Walker's Mammals of the World. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1999. Print.

 

Skinner, J. D., and Christian T. Chimimba. The Mammals of the Southern African Subregion. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2005. Print.

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