Kalpana Kalpana (Editor)

St Kilda house mouse

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Kingdom
  
Animalia

Class
  
Mammalia

Family
  
Muridae

Rank
  
Subspecies

Phylum
  
Chordata

Order
  
Rodentia

Subfamily
  
Murinae

St Kilda house mouse wwwkildaorgukimagestourmisc3jpg

Similar
  
St Kilda field mouse, St Kilda wren, Salvelinus killinensis, Salvelinus inframundus, Herbertus borealis

The St Kilda house mouse (Mus musculus muralis) is an extinct subspecies of the house mouse found only on the islands of the St Kilda archipelago of northwest Scotland.

It is uncertain when they first arrived on the islands, but it is possible that they unwittingly were transported there during the Norse period. Isolated on the islands, the St Kilda house mouse diverged from relatives. It became larger than the mainland varieties, although it had a number of traits in common with a subspecies found on Mykines in the Faroe Islands, Mus musculus mykinessiensis.

When the last St Kildans were evacuated in 1930, the endemic house mouse became extinct very quickly, as it was associated strictly with human settlement. Some specimens exist in museums. The St Kilda field mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus hirtensis) is still present.

References

St Kilda house mouse Wikipedia