Birch mouse

{{Short description|Genus of rodents}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| name = Birch mice

| image = Sicista betulina 03.JPG

| image_caption = Sicista betulina

| taxon = Sicista

| authority = J. E. Gray, 1827

| type_species = Mus subtilis

| type_species_authority = Pallas, 1773

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = See text

}}

Birch mice (genus Sicista) are small jumping rodents that resemble mice with long, tufted tails and very long hind legs, allowing for remarkable leaps. They are the only extant members of the family Sminthidae.{{Cite journal|last1=Lebedev|first1=Vladimir S.|last2=Bannikova|first2=Anna A.|last3=Pagès|first3=Marie|last4=Pisano|first4=Julie|last5=Michaux|first5=Johan R.|last6=Shenbrot|first6=Georgy I.|date=2013|title=Molecular phylogeny and systematics of Dipodoidea: a test of morphology-based hypotheses|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/zsc.12002|journal=Zoologica Scripta|language=en|volume=42|issue=3|pages=231–249|doi=10.1111/zsc.12002|s2cid=86686066 |issn=1463-6409|doi-access=free}} They are native to Eurasian forests and steppes. All variants possess a long tail of {{convert|65|to|110|mm|in|abbr=on}} of length and weigh about {{convert|6|to|14|g|oz|abbr=on}}. Head and body length of {{convert|50|to|90|mm|in|abbr=on}} and hind foot length of {{convert|14|to|18|mm|in|abbr=on}}.{{cite book|author=Ronald M. Nowak|title=Walker's mammals of the world|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7W-DGRILSBoC&pg=PA1329|accessdate=4 January 2012|year=1999|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=978-0-8018-5789-8|pages=1329–}} The animal's skin color is light brown or dark-brown to brownish yellow on the upper side and paler on the underside, but generally brownish. Birch mice have a vast geographic distribution in that they inhabit a wide variety of habitats, from semiarid areas to subalpine meadows.Cserkész, T., Fülöp, A., Almerekova, S. et al. J Mammal Evol (2019) 26: 147. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-017-9409-6 Although they have a diverse region of areas, their molecular and anatomical markers have claimed that Birch mice originated from Central Asia.{{Cite journal |last=Cserkész |first=Tamás |last2=Fülöp |first2=Attila |last3=Almerekova |first3=Shyryn |last4=Kondor |first4=Tamás |last5=Laczkó |first5=Levente |last6=Sramkó |first6=Gábor |date=March 2019 |title=Phylogenetic and Morphological Analysis of Birch Mice (Genus Sicista, Family Sminthidae, Rodentia) in the Kazak Cradle with Description of a New Species |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10914-017-9409-6 |journal=Journal of Mammalian Evolution |language=en |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=147–163 |doi=10.1007/s10914-017-9409-6 |issn=1064-7554}} Birch mice have a systematic of the genus of Sicista, they look at the male reproductive organs and cytogenic data.Cserkész, T., Rusin, M., & Sramkó, G. (2016). integrative systematic revision of the European southern birch mice (Rodentia: Sminthidae, Sicista subtilis group). Mammal Review, 46(2), 114–130. https://doi.org/10.1111/mam.12058