Chinese Dormouse

Open encyclopedia reference

The Chinese dormouse or Sichuan dormouse (Chaetocauda sichuanensis) is a species of dormouse found in subalpine mixed forests in northern Sichuan, China, where it is known from Jiuzhaigou and Wanglang Nature Reserves. It is known only from two captured female specimens taken in the Wanglang Natural Reserve, and was first described by Wang Youzhi in 1985 and relisted by Corbet and Hill (1991, 1992) under a new genus as Chaetocauda sichuanensis. It is currently the only member of the genus Chaetocauda. The two specimens had head and body lengths of 90 millimetres (3.5 in) and 91 millimetres (3.6 in) and tail lengths of 92 millimetres (3.6 in) and 102 millimetres (4.0 in), respectively. They weighed 24.5 grams (0.86 oz) and 36.0 grams (1.27 oz), respectively. The species is nocturnal and arboreal, nesting in trees around 3 metres (9.8 ft) above the ground, and was found above an altitude of 2,500 metres (8,200 ft) above sea level. It is classified as endangered by the IUCN as of the 2004 Red List due to its small, isolated habitat.

Wikipedia contributors, Chinese dormouse; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:15:17.059476+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Chaetocauda sichuanensis Wang, 1985

Name authority

Wang, 1985

Common name

Chinese Dormouse

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Rodentia

Family

Gliridae

Genus

Chaetocauda

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.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
10. infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
11. orderRodentia Bowdich, 1821
12. suborderSciuromorpha Brandt, 1855
13. familyGliridae Muirhead, 1819
14. subfamilyLeithiinae Lydekker, 1896
15. genusChaetocauda Wang, 1985
16. speciesChaetocauda sichuanensis Wang, 1985

Close classified relatives

No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.

Browse 17 records assigned to Gliridae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

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.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=951302 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:5XNJ9. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.