''Glis'' is a genus of rodent that contains two extant species, both known as edible dormice or fat dormice: the European edible dormouse ''(Glis glis'') and the Iranian edible dormouse (''Glis persicus''). It also contains a number of fossil species.

Evolution

The genus ''Glis'' originated in the mid-

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but t ...

. It did not become common until the

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58Glis sackdillingensis Glis was an electronic music project founded in 2001 by Shaun Frandsen of Seattle, WA. The band experienced several lineup changes and guest appearances, with frontman Shaun Frandsen acting as primary producer, vocalist, songwriter, and instrume ...

'' is known to have survived into the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

. This is probably likely the ancestor of the modern species, which appeared in the early to mid-Pleistocene. One former species, ''Glis truyolsi'', has been placed in the genus '' Myoglis'' and it has been suggested that ''G. apertus'', ''G. galitopouli'', ''G. guerbuezi'', ''G. major'' and ''G. transversus'' be moved there as well.

References

{{rodent-stub Rodent genera Glis Taxa named by Mathurin Jacques Brisson Taxa described in 1762