Dear John,
You are correct that there are few refernces to the new Mus domesticus name for
House Mouse in the "common" literature - I was quoting from the new "Mammals of
the British Isles Handbook 4th edition" published by the Mammal Society in 2008
and edited by Prof. Stephen Harris (Bristol University) and Dr. Derek Yalden
(Manchester University, retired) in my summary. I deliberately kept it to a
summary because it was off-topic and I'm not sure how strict the moderator is
here about on-going non-avian discussions.
However, to expand slightly on my earlier comments, M. domesticus was
originally only considered to be sub-specifically distinct by some authors
(e.g. J.T. Marshall, 1986, "Systematics of the genus Mus" published in Current
topics in Microbiology & Immunology 127: 12-18). Later studies revealed much
polymorphism both within and between populations (e.g. A.W. Ryan, 1993,
"Polymorphism, localisation and geographical transfer of mitochondrial DNA in
Mus musculus domesticus (Irish house mouse)" published in Heredity: 70: 75-81).
There then followed a series of much more recent (2005) papers, all published
in the Biological Journal of the Linnaen Society No. 84, as follows:
PW Tucker et al " Phylogenetic relationships in the sub-genus Mus: examining
gene trees and species trees" pages 653-662.
N. Raufaste et al " Inferences of selection and migration in the Danish house
mouse hybrid zone" pages 593-616
J. Britton-Davidson et al " Post-zygoticisolation between two European
sub-species of the house mouse: estimates from fertility patterns in wild &
laboratory hybrids" pages 379-393
E. Bozikova et al "Mitochondrial DNA in the hybrid zone between M.m.m. and
M.m.d.: a comparison of two transects" pages 363-378.
>From the latest research the sub-species werethen recogised as full species,
>at least in Britain, and hence we ended up with Mus domesticus.
Well you did ask to be pointed in the direction of some references....!!!
Clive Herbert
Director
Amphibian Reptile Mammal Conservation Ltd
67A Ridgeway Avenue
East Barnet
Hertfordshire
England
EN4 8TL
Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2010 21:18:43 +1000
From:
To:
CC: ;
Subject: Off topic - Mouse ID
Hi Clive and others,
according to the latest Mammals of Australia 3rd Edition edited by Van Dyck and
Strahan (2008) Mus musculus is still the species name given to House Mouse in
Australia. I have heard of it referred to as M. domesticus but as yet I haven't
found a reference to that name in the "common" literature at least.
May be something our taxonomists need to check on. I am happy to be corrected
or pointed in the direction of references to the contrary.
Yours in all things "green"
Regards
John Harris
Manager, Environment and Sustainability
Donvale Christian College
155 Tindals Rd Donvale 3111
03 9844 2471 Ext 217
0409 090 955
President, Field Naturalists Club of Victoria (FNCV)
Past President, Victorian Association for Environmental Education (VAEE)
>>> clive herbert <> 29/09/2010 8:40 PM >>>
The correct specific name for the House Mouse that we have in Britain is Mus
domesticus not Mus musculus. Originally the introduced House Mouse in Western
Europe (including Britain) was regarded as one variable species Mus musculus.
Several species have now been recognised, including M. spretis (Iberia), M.
domesticus (rest of western Europe) and M. musculus (eastern Europe) which meet
but scarcely interbreed along a line from Denmark to the Dalmatian coast. All
of the lab mice etc are from M. domesticus. Assuming that the introduced
population present in Australia will most likely to have originated from the
UK, rather than mainland Europe, then your species should now be called M.
domesticus.
Clive Herbert
Director
Amphibian, Reptile & Mammal Conservation Ltd
67A Ridgeway Avenue
East Barnet
Hertfordshire
England
EN4 8TL
> From:
> To:
> Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2010 11:30:32 +1000
> Subject: [Birding-Aus] Off topic - Mouse ID
>
> Thanks to all the people who responded to my request - nearly universally
> the mouse was identified as a plain old house mouse, Mus Musculus.
>
> Bill
>
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