Mus musculus

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	MAMMALIA	RODENTIA	MURIDAE

Scientific Name:

Mus musculus

Species Authority

Linnaeus, 1758

Common Name/s:

English	–	House Mouse
French	–	Souris Domestique
Spanish	–	Ratón Casero

Synonym/s:

Mus abbotti

Mus domesticus

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Least Concern ver 3.1

Year Assessed:

2008

Assessor/s

Musser, G., Amori, G., Hutterer, R., Kryštufek, B., Yigit, N. & Mitsain, G.

Evaluator/s:

Amori, G. (Small Nonvolant Mammal Red List Authority) & Temple, H. (Global Mammal Assessment Team)

Justification:
A widespread and abundant species that thrives in anthropogenic habitats, hence listed as Least Concern.

History:

1996

–

Lower Risk/least concern (Baillie and Groombridge 1996)

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	Mus musculus was originally a Palaearctic species, but through its close association with humans it has been widely introduced across the globe (Musser and Carleton, 2005). The species is widespread over all continents, except Antarctica, and has become established in North and South America, sub-Saharan Africa, Australia, and many oceanic islands (Macholán 1999). The list of countries of occurrence is incomplete.
Countries:	Native: Afghanistan; Albania; Algeria; Andorra; Armenia; Austria; Azerbaijan; Bahrain; Belarus; Belgium; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Bulgaria; Croatia; Czech Republic; Denmark; Egypt; Eritrea; Estonia; Faroe Islands; Finland; France; Georgia; Germany; Gibraltar; Greece; Holy See (Vatican City State); Hungary; Iceland; India; Iran, Islamic Republic of; Iraq; Ireland; Israel; Italy; Japan; Jordan; Kazakhstan; Korea, Democratic People's Republic of; Korea, Republic of; Kyrgyzstan; Latvia; Lebanon; Libyan Arab Jamahiriya; Liechtenstein; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of; Malta; Moldova; Monaco; Mongolia; Montenegro; Morocco; Nepal; Netherlands; Norway; Oman; Pakistan; Palestinian Territory, Occupied; Poland; Portugal; Romania; Russian Federation; Serbia; Slovakia; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; Syrian Arab Republic; Tajikistan; Tunisia; Turkey; Turkmenistan; Ukraine; United Arab Emirates; United Kingdom; Uzbekistan; Yemen Introduced: Argentina; Australia; Bolivia; Brazil; Brunei Darussalam; Cambodia; Canada; Chile; Colombia; Cyprus; Ecuador; Guernsey; Indonesia; Isle of Man; Jersey; Lao People's Democratic Republic; Malaysia; Myanmar; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Peru; Philippines; Singapore; South Africa; Taiwan, Province of China; Thailand; United States; Uruguay; Venezuela; Viet Nam
Range Map:	(click map to view full version)

Population [top]

Population:	A widespread and abundant species; common except in some extreme habitats (e.g. at high altitude) (Macholán 1999).
Population Trend:	Stable

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	House mice are typically commensal, and are found in a very wide range of man-made habitats including houses, farm outbuildings, other types of buildings, and even coal mines and frozen meat stores. Sometimes it is feral in areas where it has been introduced, and in some parts of its native range it maintains wild populations in outdoor habitats such as arable land, pastures, coastal sand dunes, salt marshes, and scrubby road verges (Macholán 1999, Wilson and Reeder 2005). House mice tend not to be found in forests and deserts (Macholán 1999).
Systems:	Terrestrial

Habitat and Ecology:

House mice are typically commensal, and are found in a very wide range of man-made habitats including houses, farm outbuildings, other types of buildings, and even coal mines and frozen meat stores. Sometimes it is feral in areas where it has been introduced, and in some parts of its native range it maintains wild populations in outdoor habitats such as arable land, pastures, coastal sand dunes, salt marshes, and scrubby road verges (Macholán 1999, Wilson and Reeder 2005). House mice tend not to be found in forests and deserts (Macholán 1999).

Systems:

Terrestrial

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	This species faces no major threats.

Major Threat(s):

This species faces no major threats.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	Not protected under international legislation; commonly regarded as a pest. Present in many protected areas. A highly successful colonist of artificial environments; no conservation measures are required.

Conservation Actions:

Not protected under international legislation; commonly regarded as a pest. Present in many protected areas. A highly successful colonist of artificial environments; no conservation measures are required.

Citation:	Musser, G., Amori, G., Hutterer, R., Kryštufek, B., Yigit, N. & Mitsain, G. 2008. Mus musculus. In: IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 20 November 2008.
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