House mouse

The house mouse (Mus musculus) is a small mammal of the order Rodentia, characteristically having a pointed snout, large rounded ears, and a long and almost hairless tail. It is one of the most abundant species of the genus Mus. Although a wild animal, the house mouse has benefited significantly from associating with human habitation to the point that truly wild populations are significantly less common than the semi-tame populations near human activity.

House mouse
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Muridae
Genus: Mus
Subgenus: Mus
Species:
M. musculus
Binomial name
Mus musculus
Subspecies
  • Mus musculus bactrianus
  • Mus musculus castaneus
  • Mus musculus domesticus
  • Mus musculus gentilulus
  • Mus musculus musculus
House mouse range (note: distribution is incomplete)
Synonyms

Mus abbotti

The house mouse has been domesticated as the pet or fancy mouse, and as the laboratory mouse, which is one of the most important model organisms in biology and medicine. The complete mouse reference genome was sequenced in 2002.

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