Hazel dormouse

Hazel Dormouse Fossil range: Middle Miocene - Recent
Conservation status
Near Threatened
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Rodentia Family: Gliridae Subfamily: Leithiinae Genus: Muscardinus Kaup, 1829 Species: M. avellanarius
Binomial name
Muscardinus avellanarius (Linnaeus, 1758)

The Hazel Dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) is a small mammal. It is the only living member of the genus Muscardinus. It is 6-9 cm long with a tail of 5.7-7.5 cm. The Hazel Dormouse hibernates from October to April-May.

The hazel dormouse is also known as the common dormouse and is native to northern Europe and Asia Minor.

Natural history

Hazel dormice are the only small mammals in Britain to have a completely furry tail. They have golden-brown fur and large black eyes. They are nocturnal creatures and spend most of their waking hours high among the branches of trees looking for food. They will make long detours through the treetops rather than come down to the ground and expose themselves to danger.

In winter, dormice hibernate in nests beneath the leaf litter on the forest floor. When they wake up in spring, they build woven nests of honeysuckle bark and fresh leaves in the undergrowth. If the weather is cold and wet, and food scarce, they save energy by going into torpor; they curl up into a ball and go to sleep. Dormice, therefore, spend a large proportion of their lives sleeping; either hibernating in winter or in torpor in summer.

References

• Tchabovsky (1996). Muscardinus avellanarius. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006.

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