Micromys

Micromys is a genus of small rodents in the subfamily Murinae. The genus contains two living species: the widespread Eurasian harvest mouse of much of Europe and Asia; and the more restricted Indochinese harvest mouse of Vietnam, southern China, and perhaps nearby regions. Fossils of Micromys date back to the Late Miocene and include at least 10 extinct species, which form several lineages.

Micromys

Hecke · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
harvest mousePBDB
Sits inside
MuridaePBDB
Diet
herbivore, insectivorePBDB, for Muridae
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Muridae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 5.3 million years on record.

The record covers at least 5.333 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 11.63 Mya to 0 Mya.

Miocene — about 19 of 60 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 24 of 60 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 16 of 60 occurrencesPleistoceneHolocene — about 1 of 60 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences11–11 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences11–11 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences10–9.7 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences9.7–9.3 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences9.3–8.9 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences8.9–8.5 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences8.5–8.1 Mya — about 1 occurrence8.1–7.7 Mya — about 1 occurrence7.7–7.3 Mya — about 1 occurrence7.3–6.9 Mya — about 3 occurrences6.9–6.5 Mya — about 3 occurrences6.5–6.1 Mya — about 3 occurrences6.1–5.7 Mya — about 3 occurrences5.7–5.3 Mya — about 3 occurrences5.3–4.9 Mya — about 3 occurrences4.9–4.4 Mya — about 4 occurrences4.4–4.0 Mya — about 4 occurrences4.0–3.6 Mya — about 4 occurrences3.6–3.2 Mya — about 3 occurrences3.2–2.8 Mya — about 2 occurrences2.8–2.4 Mya — about 3 occurrences2.4–2.0 Mya — about 4 occurrences2.0–1.6 Mya — about 3 occurrences1.6–1.2 Mya — about 3 occurrences1.2–809 ka Mya — about 3 occurrences809 ka–404 ka Mya — about 1 occurrence404 ka–0 Mya — about 2 occurrences5.333 Mya11.7 ka12.1 Mya0 Mya

60 occurrences of Micromys on record, most of them in the Pliocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

60 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

12 formations

facies à Congeria — 45.05°N, 7.93°ELefkon — 41.17°N, 23.50°ELefkon — 41.18°N, 23.42°ELefkon — 40.78°N, 24.03°EProlemais — 40.46°N, 21.78°EProlemais — 40.50°N, 21.74°EKomnina — 40.43°N, 21.80°EKomnina — 40.15°N, 21.94°EValdeganga — 39.15°N, 1.67°WSpilia — 41.15°N, 23.48°EDursunlu — 38.28°N, 31.91°EChikoi — 51.03°N, 106.65°EGonia — 40.37°N, 23.11°EMarkygialos — 40.51°N, 22.50°EDytiko — 40.88°N, 22.55°EPorsuk — 39.36°N, 31.91°E

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The named rock units Micromys has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 30 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Micromys and its relatives

Pliocene

Where Micromys and its relatives were recorded in the Pliocene.

Found in the same rock

708 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 57 sites for Micromys, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

28 references

Each of the 60 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 16 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Micromys

Credit
Hecke
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Micromys minutus · UMMZ:mammals:108469

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itMuridae through timeFormations of the PlioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Dehne 1841