Gliroidea

African dormice Graphiurus ?murinus, photographed by H. Osadnik.

Belongs within: Rodentia.

The Gliroidea, dormice, are a group of mouse-like rodents, more closely related to squirrels than true mice. The name of the group refers to their hibernation (dormancy) during winter. Among living species, the Glirinae are found in Eurasia and northern Africa, while Graphiurus is found in sub-Saharan Africa.

See also: Taxon of the Week: Nothing to do with teapots.

Characters (from Lavocat 1978): Sciurognath jaws, with infraorbital foramen frequently of great size; cheek teeth with very distinctive pattern, transverse crests usually low and frequently numerous. Usually four cheek teeth (except P3 present in Gliravus).

<==Gliroidea [Glirimorpha]
    |--Myoxidae IT07
    |    |--Selevinia betpakdalaensis IT07
    |    |--Glirulus Thomas 1906 IT07, P04
    |    |    `--G. japonicus (Schinz 1845) I92
    |    `--Myoxus T66
    |         |--M. glis IT07
    |         |--M. melanurus T66
    |         `--M. nitella T66
    `--Gliridae [Muscardinidae] MR03
         |  i. s.: Microdyromys De Bruijn 1966 P04
         |           |--M. complicatus M-SK04
         |           `--M. koenigswaldi De Bruijn 1966 P04
         |         Eogliravus J88
         |         Dryomys Thomas 1906 L78, P04
         |           |--D. laniger IT07
         |           |--D. nitedula IT07
         |           `--D. sichuanensis IT07
         |         Myomimus Ognev 1924 P04
         |           |--M. complicidentatus Popov 2004 P04
         |           |--M. dehmi (De Bruijn 1966) P04
         |           |--M. maritsensis De Bruijn, Dawson & Mein 1970 P04
         |           |--M. personatus IT07
         |           |--M. qafzensis (Haas 1973) P04
         |           |--M. roachi (Bate 1937) P04
         |           `--M. setzeri IT07
         |         Dryomimus Kretzoi 1959 P04
         |           `--D. eliomyoides Kretzoi 1959 P04
         |         Peridyromys Stehlin & Schaub 1951 P04
         |           |--P. aquatilis (De Bruijn & Moltzer 1974) P04
         |           `--P. murinus (Pomel 1953) P04
         |         Ramys Garcia Moreno & Lopez Martinez 1986 P04
         |           `--R. multicrestatus (De Bruijn 1966) P04
         |         Miodyromys aegercii (Baudelot 1972) P04
         |         Pseudodryomys De Bruijn 1965 P04
         |           |--P. ibericus C-PR70
         |           `--P. simplicidens C-PR70
         |         Gliravus B74
         |--Graphiurus [Graphiurinae] MR03
         |    |--G. christyi IT07
         |    |--G. crassicaudatus IT07
         |    |--G. hueti IT07
         |    |--G. kelleni IT07
         |    |--G. lorraineus IT07
         |    |--G. microtis IT07
         |    |--G. monardi IT07
         |    |--G. murinus MR03
         |    |--G. ocularis IT07
         |    |--G. olga IT07
         |    |--G. parvus IT07
         |    |--G. platyops IT07
         |    |--G. rupicola IT07
         |    `--G. surdus IT07
         `--Glirinae B74
              |--Muscardinus Kaup 1829 B74, P04
              |    |--M. avellanarius B74
              |    |--M. cyclopeus Agusti, Moyà & Pons 1982 BG-PQ-C02
              |    `--M. sansaniensis M-SK04
              |--Glis Brisson 1762 P04
              |    |--G. glis AA02
              |    |--G. minor Kowalski 1956 [=G. sackdillingensis minor] P04
              |    |--G. sackdillingensis (Heller 1930) P04
              |    `--G. vulgaris T66
              `--Eliomys Wagner 1840 B74, P04
                   |--E. melanurus IT07
                   `--E. quercinus B74
                        |--E. q. quercinus KK54
                        `--E. q. pallidus Barrett-Hamilton 1899 KK54

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[AA02] Arnason, U., J. A. Adegoke, K. Bodin, E. W. Born, Y. B. Esa, A. Gullberg, M. Nilsson, R. V. Short, X. Xu & A. Janke. 2002. Mammalian mitogenomic relationships and the root of the eutherian tree. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 99 (12): 8151-8156.

[BG-PQ-C02] Bailon, S., J. Garcia-Porta & J. Quintana-Cardona. 2002. Première découverte de Viperidae (Reptilia, Serpentes) dans les îles Baléares (Espagne): Des vipères du Néogène de Minorque. Description d’une nouvelle espèce du Pliocène. Comptes Rendus Palevol 1: 227-234.

[B74] Bugge, J. 1974. The cephalic arterial system in insectivores, primates, rodents and lagomorphs, with special reference to the systematic classification. Acta Anatomica 87 (Suppl 62): 1-160.

[C-PR70] Crusafont-Pairó, M., & S. Reguant. 1970. The nomenclature of intermediate forms. Systematic Zoology 19 (3): 254-257.

[IT07] Isaac, N. J. B., S. T. Turvey, B. Collen, C. Waterman & J. E. M. Baillie. 2007. Mammals on the EDGE: conservation priorities based on threat and phylogeny. PLoS One 2 (3): e296.

[I92] Iwahashi, J. (ed.) 1992. Reddo Deeta Animaruzu: a pictorial of Japanese fauna facing extinction. JICC: Tokyo.

[J88] Jaeger, J.-J. 1988. Rodent phylogeny: new data and old problems. In The Phylogeny and Classification of the Tetrapods, vol. 2. Mammals (M. J. Benton, ed.) pp. 177-199. Clarendon Press: Oxford.

[KK54] Klemmer, K., & H. E. Krampitz. 1954. Zur Kenntnis der Säugetierfauna Siziliens. Senckenbergiana Biologica 35 (3-4): 121-135.

[L78] Lavocat, L. 1978. Rodentia and Lagomorpha. In Evolution of African Mammals (V. J. Maglio & H. B. S. Cooke, eds) pp. 69-89. Harvard University Press: Cambridge (Massachusetts).

[MR03] Mercer, J. M., & V. L. Roth. 2003. The effects of Cenozoic global change on squirrel phylogeny. Science 299: 1568-1572.

[M-SK04] Moyà-Solà, S., M. Köhler, D. M. Alba, I. Casanovas-Vilar & J. Galindo. 2004. Pierolapithecus catalaunicus, a new Middle Miocene great ape from Spain. Science 306: 1339-1344.

[P04] Popov, V. V. 2004. Pliocene small mammals (Mammalia, Lipotyphla, Chiroptera, Lagomorpha, Rodentia) from Muselievo (north Bulgaria). Geodiversitas 26 (3): 403-491.

[T66] Tristram, H. B. 1866. Report on the mammals of Palestine. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 84-93.