Desert pygmy mouse
Mus indutus (Thomas, 1910)
The desert pygmy mouse (Mus indutus) is a species in the family Muridae, order Rodentia. Recorded adults weigh 6.15 g to 7.25 g and live up to 3.1 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the desert pygmy mouse
- Weight
- 6.15 g – 7.25 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 3.1 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 4.3 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 20.4 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4.24src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 60 days – 77 dayssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 4src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the desert pygmy mouse live?
Not recorded
What is the desert pygmy mouse?
The desert pygmy mouse (Mus indutus) is a species of rodent in the family Muridae.
It is found in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Its natural habitats are dry savanna and subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland.
From the Wikipedia article “Desert pygmy mouse” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Desert_pygmy_mouse&oldid=1371321832), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the desert pygmy mouse endangered?
The desert pygmy mouse is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the desert pygmy mouse classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderRodentia
- familyMuridae
- genusMus
- SpeciesMus indutus (Thomas, 1910)
Synonyms Leggada bella induta, Leggada deserti pretoriae, Leggada deserti valschensis
Other names and names in other languages (7)
- WoestyndwergmuisEnglish
- WüstenzwergmausGerman
- pikkuaavikkohiiriFinnish
- ボツワナハツカネズミJapanese
- ØrkendvergmusNorwegian Bokmål
- mysz hotentockaPolish
- Карликовая пустынная мышьRussian
Relatives of the desert pygmy mouse
Other species in the same genus Mus.
House mouse
Mus musculus
African pygmy mouse
Mus minutoides
Steppe mouse
Mus spicilegus
Little Indian field mouse
Mus booduga
Macedonian mouse
Mus macedonicus
Algerian mouse
Mus spretus
CompareDesert pygmy mouse vs House mouseDesert pygmy mouse vs African pygmy mouseDesert pygmy mouse vs Steppe mouseDesert pygmy mouse vs Little Indian field mouse
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the desert pygmy mouse?
An adult desert pygmy mouse weighs 6.15 g – 7.25 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the desert pygmy mouse endangered?
The desert pygmy mouse is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the desert pygmy mouse live?
The desert pygmy mouse has a recorded lifespan of 3.1 years.
How long is the desert pygmy mouse pregnant?
The recorded gestation period is 20.4 days.
What kind of animal is the desert pygmy mouse?
The desert pygmy mouse (Mus indutus) belongs to the family Muridae in the order Rodentia.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Desert pygmy mouse (Mus indutus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/desert-pygmy-mouse
“Desert pygmy mouse (Mus indutus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/desert-pygmy-mouse.
@misc{desert_pygmy_mouse_2026,
title = {Desert pygmy mouse (Mus indutus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/desert-pygmy-mouse},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}