The

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

''Mus'' or typical mice refers to a specific genus of muroid rodents, all typically called

mice A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

(the adjective "muroid" comes from the word "

Muroidea The Muroidea are a large superfamily of rodents, including mice, rats, voles, hamsters, lemmings, gerbils, and many other relatives. Although the Muroidea originated in Eurasia, they occupy a vast variety of habitats on every continent except A ...

", which is a large superfamily of rodents, including mice, rats, voles, hamsters, gerbils, and many other relatives). They are the only members of the

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...

Murini. However, the term mouse can also be applied to species outside of this genus.

Subgenera, species, and subspecies

'' The following is a list of ''Mus'' subgenera, species, and subspecies: *''

Coelomys ''Coelomys'' is a subgenus of the rodent genus '' Mus'', the mice. This subgenus is native to Southeast Asia.Chevret, P., Veyrunes, F., & Britton-Davidian, J. (2005)Molecular phylogeny of the genus ''Mus'' (Rodentia: Murinae) based on mitochond ...

'' **''

Mus crociduroides The Sumatran shrewlike mouse (''Mus crociduroides'') is a species of mouse. It is endemic to Indonesia.Aplin, K., Helgen, K., & Lunde, D''Mus crociduroides''.The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2008. Downloaded on 07 January 2016.Wilson, D. E ...

'' (Sumatran shrewlike mouse) **'' Mus mayori'' (Mayor's mouse) **'' Mus pahari'' (Gairdner's shrewmouse) **'' Mus vulcani'' (volcano mouse) *'' Mus'' **''

Mus booduga The little Indian field mouse (''Mus booduga'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std ...

'' (Little Indian field mouse) **''

Mus caroli The Ryukyu mouse ('Mus caroli'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Social ...

'' (Ryukyu mouse) **''

Mus cervicolor The fawn-colored mouse (''Mus cervicolor'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in Cambodia, India, and possibly Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), offici ...

'' (Fawn-colored mouse) ***''Mus cervicolor cervicolor'' ***''Mus cervicolor popaeus'' **''

Mus cookii Cook's mouse (''Mus cookii'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae The Muridae, or murids, are the largest family of rodents and of mammals, containing approximately 1,383 species, including many species of mice, rats, and gerbils fou ...

'' (Cook's mouse) **''

Mus cypriacus The Cypriot mouse (''Mus cypriacus'') is a species of mouse endemic to Cyprus. Its primary habitat seems to be the vineyards and fields of the Troödos Mountains region. The mouse was recognized as a new species in 2004 by Thomas Cucchi, a resea ...

'' (Cyprus mouse) **''

Mus famulus The servant mouse (''Mus famulus'') or Bonhote's mouse, is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found only in the Western Ghats of South India, where it is restricted to Eravikulam National Park, Avalanche, Kalapatti, and Coonoor. ...

'' (Servant mouse) **''

Mus fragilicauda The sheath-tailed mouse (''Mus fragilicauda'') is a mouse found in two locations in central Thailand and in Laos. They were discovered and documented in 2002. It is the only known ''Mus'' species to lose its tail integument when handled. It is so ...

'' (sheath-tailed mouse) **''

Mus lepidoides ''Mus lepidoides'' is a species of rodent in the family Muridae The Muridae, or murids, are the largest family of rodents and of mammals, containing approximately 1,383 species, including many species of mice, rats, and gerbils found naturally ...

'' (little Burmese field mouse) **''

Mus macedonicus The Macedonian mouse (''Mus macedonicus'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae and order Rodentia. This rodent lives in the area from eastern Georgia and western Bulgaria to Israel. It is considered part of a Paleoarctic group along wit ...

'' (Macedonian mouse) ***''Mus macedonicus macedonicus'' ***''Mus macedonicus spretoides'' **''

Mus musculus Mus or MUS may refer to: Abbreviations * MUS, the NATO country code for Mauritius * MUS, the IATA airport code for Minami Torishima Airport * MUS, abbreviation for the Centre for Modern Urban Studies on Campus The Hague, Leiden University, Neth ...

'' (House mouse) ***''Mus musculus albula'' ***''Mus musculus bactrianus'' (Southwestern Asian house mouse) ***''Mus musculus brevirostris'' ***''Mus musculus castaneus'' (Southeastern Asian house mouse) ***''

Mus musculus domesticus ''Mus musculus domesticus'', the Western European house mouse, is a subspecies of the house mouse (''Mus musculus''). Some laboratory mouse strains, such as C57BL/6, are domesticated from ''M. m. domesticus''. Distribution In Europe, ''M. m. dom ...

'' (Western European house mouse) ***''Mus musculus gansuensis'' ***''Mus musculus gentilulus'' (Pygmy house mouse) ***''Mus musculus helgolandicus'' ***''Mus musculus homourus'' ***''Mus musculus isatissus'' ***'' Mus musculus molossinus'' (Japanese house mouse) ***''Mus musculus musculus'' (Eastern European house mouse) ***''Mus musculus wagneri'' **''

Mus nitidulus ''Mus nitidulus'' is a medium-sized rodent of the genus ''Mus'' that appears in central Myanmar. Origins The name of the species dates back to 1859, but this is an uncertain figure because of the uncertainty that ''Mus nitidulus'' was indeed a ...

'' (Blyth's mouse) **''

Mus spicilegus The steppe mouse or mound-building mouse (''Mus spicilegus'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in grassland and other open areas in Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, North Maced ...

'' (Steppe mouse) **''

Mus spretus The Algerian mouse (''Mus spretus''), also known as the western Mediterranean mouse, is a wild species of mouse closely related to the house mouse, native to open habitats around the western Mediterranean. Description The Algerian mouse close ...

'' (Western wild mouse) **''

Mus terricolor The earth-colored mouse (''Mus terricolor'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in India, possibly Indonesia, Nepal, and Pakistan. The earth-colored mouse lives in cultivated fields in raised moist mounds of Earth, where t ...

'' (Earth-colored mouse) **'' Mus triton'' (Gray-bellied mouse) *'' Muriculus'' **'' Mus imberbis'' (Ethiopian spiny mouse) *''

Nannomys ''Nannomys'' is a subgenus of the rodent genus '' Mus'', the mice. They are known as the African pygmy mice.Veyrunes, F., et al. (2005)Molecular phylogeny of the African pygmy mice, subgenus ''Nannomys'' (Rodentia, Murinae, ''Mus''): implication ...

'' **'' Mus baoulei'' (Baoule's mouse) **''

Mus bufo The toad mouse (''Mus bufo'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and arable land A ...

'' (Toad mouse) **'' Mus callewaerti'' (Callewaert's mouse) **'' Mus goundae'' (Gounda mouse) **''

Mus haussa The Hausa mouse (''Mus haussa'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, and Senegal. Its natural habitats are dry savanna, arable land, rural gardens ...

'' (Hausa mouse) **''

Mus indutus The desert pygmy mouse (''Mus indutus'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are dry savanna and subtropical or tropical high-altitude gr ...

'' (Desert pygmy mouse) **''

Mus mahomet The Mahomet mouse (''Mus mahomet'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubl ...

'' (Mahomet mouse) **'' Mus mattheyi'' (Matthey's mouse) **'' Mus minutoides'' (Southern African pygmy mouse) **''

Mus musculoides Temminck's mouse (''Mus musculoides'') is a species of the genus ''Mus'' and of the subgenus ''Nannomys''. It is found throughout West Africa, Central Africa, and East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern ...

'' (Temminck's mouse) **'' Mus neavei'' (Neave's mouse) **'' Mus oubanguii'' (Ubangui mouse) **'' Mus setulosus'' (Peters's mouse) **'' Mus setzeri'' (Setzer's mouse) **'' Mus sorella'' (Thomas's pygmy mouse) **'' Mus tenellus'' (Delicate mouse) *''

Pyromys ''Pyromys'' is a subgenus of '' Mus''. Species are endemic to South Asia and parts of Southeast Asia. Species * Ceylon spiny mouse, ''Mus fernandoni'' (Sri Lanka) * Phillips's mouse, ''Mus phillipsi'' (Southwestern India) *Flat-haired mouse ...

'' **'' Mus fernandoni'' (Ceylon spiny mouse) **'' Mus phillipsi'' (Phillips's mouse) **'' Mus platythrix'' (Flat-haired mouse) **''

Mus saxicola The rock-loving mouse (''Mus saxicola''), also known as the brown spiny mouse, is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in India, Nepal, and Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, ...

'' (Spiny mouse) **'' Mus shortridgei'' (Shortridge's mouse)

Mice and human health

Mice are part of human experimentation. Many of the tests are related to new products that are launched on the market, but they are also required to try new medicines for the cure of chronic and deadly human diseases. After the outbreak of H5N1 influenza in China in 2006, US scientists discovered that under training, mice could detect carrier birds with this virus, so they would prevent a massive contagion or threat of an epidemic.

References

{{Authority control ! Rodent genera Taxa named by Carl Alexander Clerck Mice Messinian genera Zanclean genera Piacenzian genera Gelasian genera Calabrian genera Ionian genera Tarantian genera Holocene genera