Mice in the context of "Cat"

A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive/cute appearances, intelligence, and relatable personalities, but some pets may be taken in on an altruistic basis (such as a stray animal) and accepted by the owner regardless of these characteristics.

Two of the most popular pets are dogs and cats. Other animals commonly kept include rabbits; ferrets; pigs; rodents such as gerbils, hamsters, chinchillas, rats, mice, and guinea pigs; birds such as parrots, passerines, and fowls; reptiles such as turtles, lizards, snakes, and iguanas; aquatic pets such as fish, freshwater snails, and saltwater snails; amphibians such as frogs and salamanders; and arthropod pets such as tarantulas and hermit crabs. Smaller pets include rodents, while the equine and bovine group include the largest companion animals.

Brain vesicles are the bulge-like enlargements of the early development of the neural tube in vertebrates, which eventually give rise to the brain.

Vesicle formation begins shortly after the rostral closure of the neural tube, at about embryonic day 9.0 in mice, or the fourth and fifth gestational week in humans. In zebrafish and chicken embryos, brain vesicles form by about 24 hours and 48 hours post-conception, respectively.

In neuroanatomy, a sulcus (Latin: "furrow"; pl.: sulci) is a shallow depression or groove in the cerebral cortex. One or more sulci surround a gyrus (pl. gyri), a ridge on the surface of the cortex, creating the characteristic folded appearance of the brain in humans and most other mammals. The larger sulci are also called fissures. The cortex develops in the fetal stage of corticogenesis, preceding the cortical folding stage known as gyrification. The large fissures and main sulci are the first to develop.

Mammals that have a folded cortex are known as gyrencephalic, and the small-brained mammals that have a smooth cortex, such as rats and mice are termed lissencephalic.

Isla de Ratones (Spanish for mice island) is a small uninhabited island off the southern coast of Puerto Rico, off the coast of Ponce. The island is part of barrio Canas in the municipality of Ponce. The island gained attention in 2010 when the Puerto Rican Bird Society made it a target for the eradication of the black rat. While named as one single island, it is actually composed of two islands separated by a few feet of shallow water during high tide, which become a single island at low tide.

Toxoplasma gondii (/ˈtɒksəˌplæzmə ˈɡɒndi.aɪ, -iː/) is a species of parasitic alveolate that causes toxoplasmosis. Found worldwide, T. gondii is capable of infecting virtually all warm-blooded animals, but members of the cat family (felidae) are the only known definitive hosts in which the parasite may undergo sexual reproduction.

In rodents, T. gondii alters behavior in ways that increase the rodents' chances of being preyed upon by felids. Support for this "manipulation hypothesis" stems from studies showing that T. gondii-infected rats have a decreased aversion to cat urine while infection in mice lowers general anxiety, increases explorative behaviors and increases a loss of aversion to predators in general. Because cats are one of the only hosts within which T. gondii can sexually reproduce, such behavioral manipulations are thought to be evolutionary adaptations that increase the parasite's reproductive success since rodents that do not avoid cat habitations will more likely become cat prey. The primary mechanisms of T. gondii–induced behavioral changes in rodents occur through epigenetic remodeling in neurons that govern the relevant behaviors.

The Muroidea are a large superfamily of rodents, including mice, rats, voles, hamsters, lemmings, gerbils, and many other relatives. Although the Muroidea originated in Eurasia, they occupy a vast variety of habitats on every continent except Antarctica. Some authorities have placed all members of this group into a single family, Muridae, due to difficulties in determining how the subfamilies are related to one another. Many of the families within the Muroidea superfamily have more variations between the families than between the different clades. A possible explanation for the variations in rodents is because of the location of these rodents; these changes could have been due to radiation or the overall environment they migrated to or originated in. The following taxonomy is based on recent well-supported molecular phylogenies.

The muroids are classified in six families, 19 subfamilies, around 280 genera, and at least 1,750 species.