rodent

The mouse is one of the most adaptable and successful animals. It can live in a wide range of conditions and occurs throughout the world. Although they eat relatively little, mice destroy vast quantities of stored food.

Any mammal of the worldwide order Rodentia, making up nearly half of all mammal species. Besides ordinary ‘cheek teeth’, they have a single front pair of incisor teeth in both upper and lower jaw, which continue to grow as they are worn down.

They are often subdivided into three suborders: Sciuromorpha, including primitive rodents, with the squirrels as modern representatives; Caviomorpha, including all the South American rodents, of which the guinea pig is representative; and Myomorpha, rats and mice and their relatives.

In 2003 the remains of the world's biggest rodent were unearthed in South America. The skeleton of Phoberomys paterson was discovered in the desert region of Urmaco, Venezuela. The remains belong to a type of giant guinea pig that lived around 5 million years ago; it is thought to have weighed around 700 kg/1,540 lb and been a grass-eater.