| Japanese dormouse | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Gliridae |
| Subfamily: | Glirinae |
| Genus: | Glirulus |
| Species: | G. japonicus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Glirulus japonicus (Schinz, 1845)
| |
The Japanese dormouse (Glirulus japonicus) is a species of rodent in the family Gliridae endemic to Japan. It is the only extant species within the genus Glirulus.[2] Its natural habitat is temperate forests. In Japanese, it is called yamane (やまね or 山鼠). Among dormice, it has the special ability of running at great speed upside down, suspended from branches. Its main food is fruit, insects, berries, nuts, and even flowers. It tends to inhabit arboreal nesting sites to avoid interspecific competition with the small Japanese field mouse (Apodemus argenteus) because of their sympatric relationship.[3]
- ^ Cassola, F. (2016). "Glirulus japonicus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T9246A22222495. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T9246A22222495.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ^ Holden, M. E.. 2005. Family Gliridae. pp. 819–841 in Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
- ^ Nakamura-Kojo, Yumena; Kojo, Nobuaki; Tamate, Hidetoshi B. (8 April 2016). "Spatial Differences in Arboreal Activity of Two Rodents, the Japanese Dormouse ( Glirulus japonicus) and the Small Japanese Field Mouse ( Apodemus argenteus )". Annales Zoologici Fennici. 53 (1–2): 81–90. doi:10.5735/086.053.0207. ISSN 0003-455X. S2CID 87216233.