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Ancestor: Mus musculus interstellaris (Ship Mouse)

Descendants: Folivorus Mice
Tree-running Mice

Size: Up to 15cm males, up to 12 cm females.

Dietary Needs: Softer-bodied invertebrates such as larvae, water snails and worms, grains, seeds and fruit. Makes grain  or seed stores for the winter in rain-protected, secure hiding places.

Life Cycle: Females can have offspring once every 1.5 months if conditions provide plenty, though reproduction is postponed in the winter. Males compete for females through fights and control territory where he advertises his space to females and warns other males with ultrasonic calls. His territory will have prime nesting places, and while he doesn't partake in the rearing of his offspring, he keeps away rival males. Rival males pose a threat to the resident male's offspring, even if he doesn't directly know it he  will attack them and see them off.

Females make nests wherever they can, choosing small, confined spaces. Their preferred site is pith cavities of the elderberry shrubs, a rarely accessible  but highly sought-after location they will even chew through wood to get to. The mice are usually small so that they can fit inside, and this is one of the reasons females are considerably smaller than males. They line their nests with anything insulating, such as moss and even cat hair.

Other: Natural climate change and subsequent local flora changes, plus adaptations from the elderberry plants, mean this species needs to be versatile to survive. Populations that were less versatile or lacked beneficial diversity disappeared, leaving the survivors fragmented into discrete zones.