House Mouse

• It is one of the most widely used model organisms in biomedical research worldwide.
• It can have as many as 14 litters a year in ideal conditions.
• It has colonised practically every continent alongside people.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (mammal)

Habitat and environment

Practically cosmopolitan: fields, farmland and above all buildings and structures the world over

Birth weight

1 - 1.25 grams

Size at birth

Naked and blind at birth

Sexual maturity

5-7 weeks (some individuals from 25 days)

Gestation / incubation

19-21 days

Litter / clutch size

3 to 12 young per litter (5-8 most often), up to 5-14 litters a year in ideal conditions

Life expectancy in captivity

2-3 years in captivity (documented record of up to 6 years)

Sources consulted: AnAge (genomics.senescence.info) · Animal Diversity Web · Charles Darwin Foundation · arXiv (State of Brain Emulation Report) · Cascade Pest · Terminix · Orkin

Best time: All year round, at night; it is tied to human buildings almost everywhere in the world.