Micromys minutus ( Pallas, 1771 )

Jo, Yeong-Seok, Baccus, John T. & Koprowski, John L., 2018, Mammals of Korea: a review of their taxonomy, distribution and conservation status, Zootaxa 4522 (1), pp. 1-216 : 187-188

Micromys minutus ( Pallas, 1771) —Eurasian Harvest Mouse, harvest mouse

Mus minutus Pallas, 1771 p.454 ; Type locality- Ulyanovsk (Simbirsk), Middle Volga River, Russia.

Mus minutus ussuricus Barrett-Hamilton, 1899 p.344 ; Type locality- Ussuri, Siberia.

Micromys minutus ussuricus: Thomas, 1906 p.863 ; Kishida & Mori, 1931 p.378; Kuroda, 1938 p.64; Ellerman & Morrison-Scott, 1951 p.562; Won, 1958 p.448; Jones & Johnson, 1965 p.380; Won, 1967 p.231; Won, 1968 p.189; Yoon, 1992 p.79.

Micromys minutus hertigi Johnson and Jones, 1955a p.167 ; Type locality- 2 miles southeast Mosulpo, Jeju Island, Korea; Won, 1958 p.448; Jones & Johnson, 1965 p.379; Corbet, 1978 p.132; Jo et al., 2012 p.253.

Micromys minutus: Ellerman & Morrison-Scott, 1951 p.561 ; Won, 1968 p.188; Corbet, 1978 p.131; Han, 1994 p.47; Won & Smith, 1999 p.27; Han, 2004c p.123.

Range: The distribution of the harvest mouse covers the Korean Peninsula and Jeju Island ( Fig. 127 ).

Remarks: Yasuda et al. (2005) identified five mtDNA clades across the species range (Europe; Russia; China; Taiwan; Korea-Japan). Abramov et al. (2009) divided the harvest mouse into two species ( M. minutus in the northern part and M. erythrotis in the southern range). The higher nucleotide diversity in populations of Korea than Japan suggested that harvest mice crossed from Korea to Japan during the last glacial period ( Yasuda et al. 2005). Two subspecies of M. minutus occur in Korea, M. m. ussuricus Kuroda, 1934 on the peninsula and M. m. hertigi Johnson and Jones 1955 on Jeju Island ( Jo et al. 2012).

Conservation status: Incheon and Daejeon Metropolitan governments and Jeollanam Province, South Korea provide local protection for this species as a Provincially Protected Species.

Figures

FIGURE 127. Range map of Micromys minutus in Korea.