Mouse structure

The rodent belongs to the mouse subfamily, which includes rats. But the structure of the mouse is very different from the structure of its relative. The animal is smaller, without membranes between the fingers and has a longer tail.

Appearance

Mice are small mammals. The average body length of the animal is 10 cm. The largest animal grew to 15 cm. The size of the crumbs reaches 7 cm.

The mouse muzzle has an elongated and slightly pointed shape. The ears of a mammal are large and rounded. The eyes are black. The tail is thin, reaches the length of the body.It is almost not covered with wool and has annular scales.

On a note!

The animals perfectly adapt to different conditions of life, therefore mice spread all over the world.

The mouse's coat is smooth and pleasant to the touch. The color of the individuals living here varies from gray to black and depends on mouse species. The photo can be found rodents sand or brown color. These animals live in deserts.

The coat helps the pest to hide from enemies, so its color is so different.

The front legs of mice are shorter than the hind ones and have four fingers. The hind limbs possess five fingers. At the ends of the fingers, mice have tenacious claws.

Sense organs

Mouse structure

The sense organs of domestic mice are not as strongly developed as their wild relatives. Their vision is not sharp.

The structure of the senses has the following features:

1. Spherical eyes. On the blue and green colors do not react. See mice yellow and red.
2. Ears catch high-frequency sounds.
3. Oriented to smells. The nose helps to distinguish "his" from the enemy, to find food, to determine their location.
4. At night, they are helped by the mustache.

If the mouse is frightened, then its urine acquires a special smell, informing the members of the pack of danger. In this case, the animals begin to run away and seek shelter.

Interesting!

Individuals react to female urine. The urine of males affects all members of the family.

Limbs have special glands that secrete a secret. It is needed to mark your territory.

Skeleton structure

The skeleton of the mouse is elastic, but the bone system is strong.

The skull of the mouse is elongated, has eye depressions. In adults, there are five ridges (places where the bones join):

• frontal;
• oily;
• coronary;
• parietal-temporal;
• sagittal.

The roof of the cranial skull is formed by unpaired mezhtemennymi and paired parietal bones. Vertebrae are attached to the paired occipital bone.

The spine of the mouse is divided into five sections:

• cervical;
• chest;
• lumbar;
• sacral;
• tail.

There are seven cervical vertebrae. They form a short column. Thoracic region consists of thirteen vertebrae. The lumbar region includes two real and two false vertebrae, forming the sacrum. The tail section is formed from twenty vertebrae. The halves of the pelvis are divided.Rodents have no pubic fusion.

Interesting!

The pubic bones of young females are connected by ligaments. As soon as she gives birth, the bones diverge. This feature helps pests to produce a large number of large cubs painlessly.

The chest of the mouse is narrow. Some individuals do not have a key, which allows them to squeeze through the narrowest holes. The bones of the mice are mobile and light.

Dental system

Mouse habitat

The structure of the teeth of a mouse has one interesting feature - its incisors have no roots, and therefore they are constantly growing. The pest has to constantly gnaw something, otherwise its incisors will grow and take on an ugly shape.

Each jaw is equipped with two pairs of incisors capable of growing by one millimeter per day. Their front end is covered with durable enamel, which is not on the back. Because of this, the teeth of the mice are erased unevenly. This feature makes the incisors sharp.

Interesting!

Mice cannot gnaw through metal. If the animal tries to do so, it will break the lower incisors. This will lead to curvature of the bite - the upper incisors will bend. The animal will not be able to eat and will die of hunger.

There are no canines, but there are molars with which the rodent grinds food. The surface of some of them has tubercles. Between the molars and incisors there is a diastema, a toothless area.

On a note!

The molars are also constantly growing, so small branches of trees or special supplements that can be ground can be present in the mouse diet.

Lifestyle

Pests are active all year round. But the body temperature of a mouse does not adapt well to drastic changes in the environment. Therefore, in winter, the animal prefers to settle near the person. So it provides itself with warm shelter. In cold weather, they need as much food as is needed to maintain heat.

In nature, rodents are preparing for the winter period and make stocks of provisions. House mice Products do not store, because they always have a power source. They devote more time to breeding and rearing offspring. Wildlife such as field and forest mice, in nature, breed not as active as domestic animals do.

Interesting!

Although the size of the mouse is small, it has the courage.The animal is able to attack a large animal if it cuts off its escape route.

Pests are more active at night. But in the cold season, they are active until sunset. Decorative animals adapt to the rhythm of human life - they become mobile during the day and try to rest at night.

Mice prefer to live in a group. It is easier to find food and defend the territory. Conflicts in the family regulates the leader of the pack.