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Mouse

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30 known species

A mouse (plural mice) is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (Mus musculus). It is also a popular pet. The American white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) and the deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) also sometimes live in houses. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles. They are known to invade homes for food and occasionally shelter.

Although mice may live up to two and a half years in captivity, the average mouse in the wild lives only about four months,[citation needed] primarily owing to heavy predation. Cats, wild dogs, foxes, birds of prey, snakes and even certain kinds of insects have been known to prey heavily upon mice. Nevertheless, because of its remarkable adaptability to almost any environment, and its ability to live commensally with humans, the mouse is regarded to be the second most successful mammalian genus living on Earth today, after humans.

Mice can at times be harmful rodents, damaging and eating crops and spreading diseases through their parasites and feces. In western North America, breathing dust that has come in contact with mouse feces has been linked to the deadly hantavirus.[citation needed]. The original motivation for the domestication of cats is thought to have been for their predation of mice and their relatives, the rats.[citation needed]

Primarily nocturnal animals, mice compensate for their poor eyesight with a keen sense of hearing, and rely especially on their sense of smell to locate food and avoid predators.

For more information about Mouse, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with mice

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Up a little on the left... now, over to the right... Scientists find a source of nonallergic itch

Medicine & Health / Research

created Dec 22, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 0

Scratching below the surface of a troublesome sensation that's equal parts tingle-tickle-prickle, sensory scientists from Johns Hopkins have discovered in mice a molecular basis for nonallergic itch.


Enhanced sweet taste: This is your tongue on pot

Medicine & Health / Research

created Dec 22, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 0

New findings from the Monell Center and Kyushu University in Japan report that endocannabinoids act directly on taste receptors on the tongue to enhance sweet taste.


Tiny RNA has big impact on lung cancer tumors

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Dec 07, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Researchers from Yale University and Mirna Therapeutics, Inc., reversed the growth of lung tumors in mice using a naturally occurring tumor suppressor microRNA. The study reveals that a tiny bit of RNA may one day play a ...


Why females live longer than males: is it due to the father's sperm?

Medicine & Health / Research

created Dec 01, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (20) | comments 12

Researchers in Japan have found that female mice produced by using genetic material from two mothers but no father live significantly longer than mice with the normal mix of maternal and paternal genes. Their findings provide ...


Study strengthens link between sirtuins and life extension

Study strengthens link between sirtuins proteins and life extension

Medicine & Health / Research

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (9) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new paper from MIT biology professor Leonard Guarente strengthens the link between longevity proteins called sirtuins and the lifespan-extending effects of calorie restriction.


Synergistic interaction enhances pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease

Electronics /

created Dec 23, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Scientists have identified a synergistic interaction that disrupts normal intracellular transport mechanisms and leads to the accumulation of neuron-damaging clumps of protein associated with Parkinson's disease (PD), a neurodegenerative ...


Caffeine doesn't reverse the negative cognitive impact of alcohol, study shows

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Dec 07, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 2

People who drink may want to know that coffee won't sober them up, according to new laboratory research. Instead, a cup of coffee may make it harder for people to realize they're drunk.


baby mice

Early life stress has effects at the molecular level

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Nov 12, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (12) | comments 0 weblog

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study of mice suggests that stress and trauma in early life can have an impact on the genes and result in behavioral problems later in life.


Researchers identify gene that spurs deadly brain cancer

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Dec 03, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers have identified a new factor that is necessary for the development of many forms of medulloblastoma, the most common type of malignant childhood brain cancer.


neuron

To make memories, new neurons must erase older ones

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Nov 12, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (8) | comments 0

Short-term memory may depend in a surprising way on the ability of newly formed neurons to erase older connections. That's the conclusion of a report in the November 13th issue of the journal Cell that provid ...


Dessert on your mind? Your muscles may be getting the message

Medicine & Health / Research

created Dec 01, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Even the anticipation of sweets may cause our muscles to start taking up more blood sugar, say researchers reporting in the December issue of Cell Metabolism. That message is delivered via neurons in the brain's hypothalamus contai ...


Rat pack: Scientists warming up to African rodent (AP)

Rat pack: Scientists warming up to African rodent

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 28, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (10) | comments 0

(AP) -- Naked mole rats don't get cancer. They shrug off brushes with acid and age so well, some are older than the college-aged researchers handling them.


Mice Levitated for Space Research

Mice Levitated for Space Research

Physics / General Physics

created Sep 11, 2009 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (11) | comments 21 weblog

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have managed to levitate young mice in research carried out for NASA. Levitated mice may help research on bone density loss during long exposures to low gravity, such as in space ...


How stem cells make skin

How stem cells make skin

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Sep 13, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Stem cells have a unique ability: when they divide, they can either give rise to more stem cells, or to a variety of specialised cell types. In both mice and humans, a layer of cells at the base of the skin ...


Potential new heart attack biomarker uncovered

Medicine & Health / Research

created Dec 10, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Though they remain a leading killer, heart attacks can be effectively treated provided they can be rapidly diagnosed following initial onset of symptoms. In a study appearing in this month's Molecular and Cellular Proteomics, resear ...