NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Saxicolous Mouse
Mus (Pyromys) saxicola Elliot, 1839
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The rock-loving mouse (Mus saxicola), also known as the brown spiny mouse, is a species of rodent in the family Muridae.
It is found in India, Nepal, and Pakistan.
The following description is by Sir Walter Elliot:
The brown spiny mouse lives entirely in the red gravelly soil in a burrow of moderate depth, generally on the side of a bank. When the animal is inside the entrance is closed with small pebbles, a quantity of which is collected outside, by which its retreat may always be known. The burrow leads to a chamber in which is collected a bed of small pebbles on which it sits, the thick close hair of the belly protecting it from the cold and asperity of such a seat. Its food appears to be vegetable. In its habits it is monogamous and nocturnal.
Wikipedia contributors, Rock-loving mouse; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:22:20.984098+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Mus (Pyromys) saxicola Elliot, 1839
- Name authority
- Elliot, 1839
- Common name
- Saxicolous Mouse
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Rodentia
- Family
- Muridae
- Genus
- Mus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderRodentia Bowdich, 1821
- suborderMyomorpha Brandt, 1855
- superfamilyMuroidea Illiger, 1811
- familyMuridae Illiger, 1811
- subfamilyMurinae Illiger, 1811
- genusMus Linnaeus, 1758
- subgenusPyromys Thomas, 1911
- speciesMus (Pyromys) saxicola Elliot, 1839
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Mus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Baoule's MouseMus (Nannomys) baoulei (Vermeiren & Verheyen, 1980) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Little Indian Field MouseMus (Mus) booduga (Gray, 1837) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Toad MouseMus (Nannomys) bufo (Thomas, 1906) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Callewaert's MouseMus (Nannomys) callewaerti (Thomas, 1925) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ryukyu MouseMus (Mus) caroli Bonhote, 1902 | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Fawn-colored MouseMus (Mus) cervicolor Hodgson, 1845 | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Cook's MouseMus (Mus) cookii Ryley, 1914 | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Hausa MouseMus (Nannomys) haussa (Thomas & Hinton, 1920) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Mahomet MouseMus (Nannomys) mahomet Rhoads, 1896 | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Matthey's MouseMus (Nannomys) mattheyi F. Petter, 1969 | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Subsaharan Pygmy MouseMus (Nannomys) musculoides Temminck, 1853 | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Mus (Mus) nitidulus Blyth, 1859 | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Leggada cinderella Wroughton, 1912 Wroughton, 1912 | synonym |
| Leggada platythrix sadhu Wroughton, 1911 Wroughton, 1911 | synonym |
| Leggadilla gurkha Thomas, 1914 Thomas, 1914 | synonym |
| Mus ramnadensis Bentham, 1908 Bentham, 1908 | synonym |
| Pyromys priestlyi Thomas, 1911 Thomas, 1911 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=585401 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:44NMF. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.