Related topics: proceedings of the national academy of sciences , immune system , obesity , nerve cells , genes
Mouse
hide30 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
Tiny RNA has big impact on lung cancer tumors
Dec 07, 2009 |
5 / 5 (3) |
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?
Dec 01, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (20) |
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 ...
To make memories, new neurons must erase older ones
Nov 12, 2009 |
4.4 / 5 (8) |
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 ...
Early life stress has effects at the molecular level
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Nov 12, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (12) |
0
(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.
Light at night linked to symptoms of depression in mice
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Oct 21, 2009 |
4 / 5 (7) |
2
Too much light at night can lead to symptoms of depression, according to a new study in mice. Researchers found that mice housed in a lighted room 24 hours a day exhibited more depressive symptoms than did similar mice that ...
How stem cells make skin
Sep 13, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (3) |
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 ...
Mice Levitated for Space Research
Sep 11, 2009 |
4.1 / 5 (11) |
21
(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 ...
Mice living in sandy hills quickly evolved lighter coloration
Aug 27, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (5) |
9
In a vivid illustration of natural selection at work, scientists at Harvard University have found that deer mice living in Nebraska's Sand Hills quickly evolved lighter coloration after glaciers deposited ...
Epilepsy halted in mice
Aug 03, 2009 |
5 / 5 (6) |
0
Scientists at Leeds have prevented epilepsy caused by a gene defect from being passed on to mice offspring - an achievement which may herald new therapies for people suffering from the condition.
C. difficile spores spread superbug
Jul 20, 2009 |
5 / 5 (3) |
0
New research suggests that antibiotic treatment could be asymptomatically inducing the transmission of the healthcare-acquired infection, C. difficile, contributing to the outbreaks that have recently been widely reported in hos ...
Easter Island compound extends lifespan of old mice
Jul 08, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (28) |
15
The giant monoliths of Easter Island are worn, but they have endured for centuries. New research suggests that a compound first discovered in the soil of the South Pacific island might help us stand the test ...
Caffeine reverses memory impairment in Alzheimer's mice
Jul 06, 2009 |
5 / 5 (9) |
3
Coffee drinkers may have another reason to pour that extra cup. When aged mice bred to develop symptoms of Alzheimer's disease were given caffeine - the equivalent of five cups of coffee a day - their memory ...
Genetically engineered mice don't get obese (w/Podcast)
May 07, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (3) |
2
Obesity and gallstones often go hand in hand. But not in mice developed at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Even when these mice eat high-fat diets, they don't get fat, but they do develop ...
What your mother did when she was young has an effect on your memory
Feb 03, 2009 |
4.4 / 5 (10) |
9
A mother's life experience can affect the biology of her offspring, according to new animal research in the February 4 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. The study shows that a stimulating environment improved the memory ...
Disabling enzyme allows mice to gorge without becoming obese, new study finds
Jan 11, 2009 |
5 / 5 (13) |
1
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have identified a new enzyme that plays a far more important role than expected in controlling the breakdown of fat. In a new study to be published Jan. 11 in the journal ...
