Armenian birch mouse

Armenian birch mouse
Conservation status
Critically Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Sminthidae
Genus:	Sicista
Species:	S. armenica
Binomial name
Sicista armenica Sokolov & Baskevich, 1988

The Armenian birch mouse (Sicista armenica) is a species of rodent in the family Sminthidae.

It is a small rodent, like the mouse, the average weight of 10 g and up to 9 cm long, excluding the semi-prehensile tail, which slightly exceeds the length of the body. The body is brown, darker in the upper region.

The species shows nocturnal and feeds on seeds, berries and insects. Shifts in the ground with small jumps and can easily climb on the bushes and trees due to its semi-prehensile tail. The nest, oval shaped, is made of plant remains in a shallow hole dug by the animal itself.

The species is endemic to Armenia, found in mixed forests of coniferous and broadleaf trees in the area upstream of the river Marmarik.

The Zoological Society of London, on the basis of evolutionary uniqueness and smallness of the population, considers Armenian birch mouse one of the 100 species of mammals at greatest risk of extinction.

• Holden, M.E.; Musser, G.G. (2005). "Family Dipodidae". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 871–893. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.