The Tien Shan birch mouse (''Sicista tianshanica'') is a species of

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are n ...

in the family

Sminthidae Sminthidae is a family of mouse-like jumping rodents. They are represented by only one extant genus, ''Sicista'', represented by 19 species found throughout most of Eurasia, from central Europe east to Siberia, and south to southern China. However, ...

. It is found in China,

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

and

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the ea ...

Description

The Tien Shan birch mouse grows to a length of about with a tail length of about one and a half times its body length. The dorsal fur is a uniform yellowish-grey and there is no vertebral stripe as there is in the long-tailed birch mouse (''Sicista caudata''). The flanks are straw-coloured, the chin and throat are white and the underparts whitish-grey tinged with buff. The back of the skull is longer than that of the southern birch mouse (''Sicista subtilis'').

Distribution and habitat

The Tien Shan birch mouse is native to China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Its typical habitat is piedmont plains, mountain forests, alpine meadows and forest borders.

Behaviour

The Tien Shan birch mouse does not have the specialised limbs of the

Dipodidae Jerboas (from ar, جربوع ') are hopping desert rodents found throughout North Africa and Asia, and are members of the family Dipodidae. They tend to live in hot deserts. When chased, jerboas can run at up to . Some species are preyed on b ...

, but still moved primarily by jumping. The long tail is semi-prehensile and assists it by winding round small branches when it scrambles about in bushes and low vegetation. It is primarily nocturnal, being particularly active at dusk. It feeds mainly on insects, molluscs and earthworms early in the year, moving on to a diet of berries and seeds in the summer and autumn. It hibernates for a long period, depending on location. In the

Issyk-kul Issyk-Kul (also Ysyk-Köl, ky, Ысык-Көл, lit=warm lake, translit=Ysyk-Köl, , zh, 伊塞克湖) is an endorheic lake (i.e., without outflow) in the Northern Tian Shan mountains in Eastern Kyrgyzstan. It is the seventh-deepest lake i ...

region it is only active between May and October. One litter of three to seven young is born around mid-summer.

Status

The Tien Shan birch mouse has a wide range and is locally abundant, though its population fluctuates considerably. No specific threats have been identified and there are several protected areas within its distribution range, so the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of nat ...

has assessed it as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

References

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1769394 Sicista Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Mammals described in 1903