St Kilda field mouse: Difference between revisions
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==Description== |
==Description== |
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The mouse has black eyes, small peaked ears, and fairly uniform in colour; though hard to find, it is very common and present in every habitat on the mainland, from the harbour to the highpoint. Mainly brown, they have a lighter shade of fur on their underside.<ref name=bbc/> It is generally twice as heavy as mainland field mice<ref name=bbc/> (with a mass of between {{convert|50|g|oz}} and {{convert|70|g|oz}}) and has longer hair and a longer tail. The evolution of a larger size has been credited to a lack of predators in its island habitat,<ref name=collection>{{Cite web|url=http://collections.glasgowmuseums.com/starobject.html?oid=325390|accessdate=15/05/2013|title=St Kilda fieldmouse (Apodemus sylvaticus hirtensis)|publisher=Glasgowmuseums.com}}</ref> It can reach a maximum of around {{convert|17|cm|in}} long.<ref name=kilda/> making it beneficial to grow larger to preserve heat and increase fat storage.<ref name=bbc/> It is found across the main island, Hirta, especially in the remains of the human settlement, as well as on the island of [[Dùn, St Kilda|Dùn]], but not on [[Boreray, St Kilda|Boreray]].<ref name=kilda/> |
The mouse has black eyes, small peaked ears, and fairly uniform in colour; though hard to find, it is very common and present in every habitat on the mainland, from the harbour to the highpoint. Mainly brown, they have a lighter shade of fur on their underside.<ref name=bbc/> It is generally twice as heavy as mainland field mice<ref name=bbc/> (with a mass of between {{convert|50|g|oz}} and {{convert|70|g|oz}}) and has longer hair and a longer tail. The evolution of a larger size has been credited to a lack of predators in its island habitat,<ref name=collection>{{Cite web|url=http://collections.glasgowmuseums.com/starobject.html?oid=325390|accessdate=15/05/2013|title=St Kilda fieldmouse (Apodemus sylvaticus hirtensis)|publisher=Glasgowmuseums.com}}</ref> It can reach a maximum of around {{convert|17|cm|in}} long.<ref name=kilda/> making it beneficial to grow larger to preserve heat and increase fat storage.<ref name=bbc/> It is found across the main island, Hirta, especially in the remains of the human settlement, as well as on the island of [[Dùn, St Kilda|Dùn]], but not on [[Boreray, St Kilda|Boreray]].<ref name=kilda/> Studies of the fur have recorded the [[flea]]s ''Ctenophthalmus nobilis'' and ''Nosopsyllus fasciatus'' on the mouse, as well as the mite, ''Typhloceras poppei''; studies of the intestines have observed the [[nematode]] ''Tictularia cristata'' and the [[cestode]] ''Hymenolepsis diminuta''.<ref name="Longmans1959">{{cite book|title=Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=RrgmAQAAIAAJ|accessdate=16 May 2013|year=1959|publisher=Longmans, Greens|page=64}}</ref> |
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==Diet== |
==Diet== |
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Revision as of 18:05, 22 May 2013
| St Kilda field mouse | |
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| Subspecies: | A. s. hirtensis
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| Apodemus sylvaticus hirtensis (Barrett-Hamilton, 1899)
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The St Kilda field mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus hirtensis) is a subspecies of wood mouse endemic to the Scottish archipelago of St Kilda, 14 miles west of Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides, and 100 miles (160 km) from mainland Scotland.[1] Unique to the islands, it is believed to have arrived carried by the boats of Viking settlers more than a millennium ago. It is not to be confused with the St Kilda house mouse, which is now extinct.[2][3]
The last remaining human inhabitants of St Kilda abandoned their island on 29 August 1930. Thereafter the mice that survived and occupied even the houses abandoned by the St Kildans were the field mice which moved in from the hills; the island's house mice could not survive the harsh conditions more two years after the island was abandoned by the humans.[3] The island now has temporary human habitations. While field mice are widespread on Hirta, their concentration is more pronounced in the old village areas where holes provide access points into buildings.[4] The field mice could survive on snails, insects, moss and seeds and on the carcasses of dead sheep and birds, and even apples.[5]
Description
The mouse has black eyes, small peaked ears, and fairly uniform in colour; though hard to find, it is very common and present in every habitat on the mainland, from the harbour to the highpoint. Mainly brown, they have a lighter shade of fur on their underside.[2] It is generally twice as heavy as mainland field mice[2] (with a mass of between 50 grams (1.8 oz) and 70 grams (2.5 oz)) and has longer hair and a longer tail. The evolution of a larger size has been credited to a lack of predators in its island habitat,[6] It can reach a maximum of around 17 centimetres (6.7 in) long.[7] making it beneficial to grow larger to preserve heat and increase fat storage.[2] It is found across the main island, Hirta, especially in the remains of the human settlement, as well as on the island of Dùn, but not on Boreray.[7] Studies of the fur have recorded the fleas Ctenophthalmus nobilis and Nosopsyllus fasciatus on the mouse, as well as the mite, Typhloceras poppei; studies of the intestines have observed the nematode Tictularia cristata and the cestode Hymenolepsis diminuta.[8]
Diet
It is an opportunistic omnivore, including in its diet insects, snails, seeds and moss, as well as human litter and dead animals.[6] With only one other mammal on the island, the Soay sheep, the mouse does not have much competition for grasses and herbs.[9]
History
Unique to the islands, the mice are believed to have arrived carried by the boats of Viking settlers or Norsemen more than a millennium ago, and subsequently developed into the current sub-species.[2] The taxon was first described in 1899 by Gerald Edwin Hamilton Barrett-Hamilton[10] as the separate species Apodemus hirtensis, but a year later in a specific review of mouse species it was reclassified as only a sub-species of the already described Apodemus sylvaticus.[7][5]
Numerous studies of the mouse populations on the islands have been carried out, in 1931, 1939, and 1955, which documented the rapid extinction of the endemic house mouse species (which were dependent entirely on grain and other commodities used by humans who deserted the island) and its subsequent replacement with the field mice's niche expansion.[11]
References
- ^ "St Kilda Guide". Retrieved 20/05/2013.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ a b c d e "St Kilda's 'super-sized' field mice studied". BBC. 03/09/2010. Retrieved 15/05/2013.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help) - ^ a b "The new residents of St Kilda archipelago". BBC News. 28 August 2010. Retrieved 16 may 2013.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ Scottish Field. Holmes McDougall. 1980. p. 23. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
- ^ a b "Mice and Wrens". Kilda Organization. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
- ^ a b "St Kilda fieldmouse (Apodemus sylvaticus hirtensis)". Glasgowmuseums.com. Retrieved 15/05/2013.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ a b c "Land Mammals". Kilda Organization. Retrieved 15/05/2013.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. Longmans, Greens. 1959. p. 64. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
- ^ "St Kilda mouse research starts". The University of Edinburgh, Institute of Evolutionary Biology. 29 October 2009. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
- ^ Boyd, John Morton; Boyd, Ian L. (1990). The Hebrides: a natural history. Collins. p. 307. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
- ^ Boyd, J. Morton. "The St. Kilda Field Mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus hirtensis Barrett-Hamilton), Population in the Village Area, Hirta, May 1955". Oikos: 110–116. Retrieved 15/05/2013.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help)