NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Common Field Mouse
Apodemus sylvaticus (Linnaeus, 1758)
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 wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) is a murid rodent native to Europe and northwestern Africa. It is closely related to the yellow-necked mouse (A. flavicollis) but differs in that it has no band of yellow fur around the neck, has slightly smaller ears, and is usually slightly smaller overall: around 90 mm (3.54 in) in length and 23 g in weight. It is found across most of Europe and is a very common and widespread species, is commensal with people and is sometimes considered a pest. Other common names are long-tailed field mouse, field mouse, common field mouse, and European wood mouse. This species is a known potential carrier of the Dobrava sequence of hantavirus which affects humans and may pose serious risks to human health.
Wikipedia contributors, Wood mouse; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:11:55.949259+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Apodemus sylvaticus (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Name authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Common name
- Common Field Mouse
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Rodentia
- Family
- Muridae
- Genus
- Apodemus
- 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
- genusApodemus Kaup, 1829
- speciesApodemus sylvaticus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Apodemus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Striped Field MouseApodemus agrarius (Pallas, 1771) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Small Japanese Field MouseApodemus argenteus (Temminck, 1845) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| South China Field MouseApodemus draco (Barrett-Hamilton, 1900) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Western Broad-toothed Field MouseApodemus epimelas (Nehring, 1902) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Yellow-necked Field MouseApodemus flavicollis (Melchior, 1834) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Hyrcanian Field MouseApodemus hyrcanicus Vorontsov, Boyeskorov & Mezhzherin, 1992 | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Large-eared Field MouseApodemus latronum Thomas, 1911 | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Eastern Broad-toothed Field MouseApodemus mystacinus (Danford & Alston, 1877) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Himalayan Field MouseApodemus pallipes (Barrett-Hamilton, 1900) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Korean Field MouseApodemus peninsulae (Thomas, 1907) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Caucasus Field MouseApodemus ponticus (Sviridenko, 1936) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Kashmir Field MouseApodemus rusiges Miller, 1913 | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
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.
Europe & Northern Asia (excluding China)
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=585143 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:FRJJ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.