Mice and rats radiate
The murine rodents diversify into the most successful mammal group by species count.
- When
- —
- Duration
- 8.7 million years
- Known to
- ± 2 million years
- Era
- Miocene, Cenozoic
Murine rodents — the true mice and rats — begin diversifying in Asia in the middle Miocene and spread across the Old World, reaching Africa, Europe and eventually Australia. They now comprise over 700 species, more than any other mammal family, and their success rests on small size, rapid reproduction, dietary flexibility and continuously growing incisors. Several lineages later become the commensal species that follow humans everywhere, and one becomes the most-studied laboratory animal on Earth.