Lava Mouse

Open encyclopedia reference

The lava mouse (Malpaisomys insularis) is an extinct endemic rodent from the Canary Islands, Spain. It is the only species in the genus Malpaisomys. The lava mouse is known from Holocene and Pleistocene deposits in the eastern Canary Islands, including Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, and nearby islets. Radiocarbon dates indicate that it became extinct after the European arrival in the archipelago sometime after 1270 AD, probably due to the introduction of rats. The species is estimated to have a live body mass of around 90 grams (3.2 oz). A study of its skeletal characteristics suggested that the lava mouse lived in fissures opened in the lava fields. The morphology of its teeth indicates that it was an herbivore. Its evolutionary relationships were unresolved due to its fairly generic morphology. Rodents on islands generally increase in size during the course of their evolution; the lava mouse was fairly small for an insular rodent (some 20 cm in overall length).

Wikipedia contributors, Lava mouse; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T01:52:06.614378+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Malpaisomys insularis Hutterer, Lopez-Martinez & Michaux, 1988

Name authority

Hutterer, Lopez-Martinez & Michaux, 1988

Common name

Lava Mouse

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Rodentia

Family

Muridae

Genus

Malpaisomys

Extinction status

Recorded extinct

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. suborderMyomorpha Brandt, 1855
13. superfamilyMuroidea Illiger, 1811
14. familyMuridae Illiger, 1811
15. subfamilyMurinae Illiger, 1811
16. genusMalpaisomys Hutterer, Lopez-Martinez & Michaux, 1988
17. speciesMalpaisomys insularis Hutterer, Lopez-Martinez & Michaux, 1988

Close classified relatives

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

Browse 672 records assigned to Muridae.

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=585313 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.

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:72SVJ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.