MOUSE
			Phylum: Class: Order: Chordata Mammalia Rodentia

The name is applied to several small rodents, but most often to the common house mouse. Other examples are the harvest mouse, pocket mouse, and spiny mouse. The marsupial mouse is so-named for its mouse-like appearance, but it is not related to true mice.

Mice are found in most parts of the world, and are often pests, since many of them live close to man; eating his foodstuffs, gnawing his materials, and carrying diseases. Mice will eat almost anything, although plant food is the most usual. They breed prolifically, and their ability to produce large litters of young several times a year explains why mice remain so numerous, in spite of a wide variety of predators. Mice are a vital link in the natural food chain, and, as laboratory animals, they are of considerable value to scientific research.