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St Kilda House Mouse
FileMusMuralisSmit
Information
Range Islands of the St Kilda archipelago of northwest Scotland
Scientific Classification
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Class Mammalia
Order Rodentia
Family Murinae
Genus Mus
Species Mus musculus muralis
Conservation Status
EXSpecies
Extinct

The St Kilda house mouse (Mus musculus muralis) was a subspecies of the house mouse found only on the islands of the St Kilda archipelago of northwest Scotland.

It is uncertain when they first arrived on the islands, but it is possible that they unwittingly were transported there during the Norse period. Isolated on the islands, the St Kilda house mouse diverged from relatives, it became larger than the mainland varieties, although it had a number of traits in common with a subspecies found on Mykines in the Faroe Islands, the Mykines House Mouse (Mus musculus mykinessiensis).

When the last St Kildans were evacuated in 1930, the endemic house mouse became extinct very quickly, as it was associated strictly with human settlement. Some specimens exist in museums. The St Kilda field mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus hirtensis) is still present.

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