jumping mouse

American  

noun

1. any of several primitive, mouselike rodents of the family Zapodidae, having long hind legs, common in the woodlands of Europe, Asia, and North America.

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jumping mouse British  

noun

1. any long-tailed small mouselike rodent of the family Zapodidae, of North America, E Asia, and N and E Europe, having long hind legs specialized for leaping

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Etymology

Origin of jumping mouse

First recorded in 1820–30

Example Sentences

Fish and Wildlife Service are collecting tissue samples from 24 endangered mammal species, including the Preble’s meadow jumping mouse, the Mexican wolf, and the Sonoran pronghorn.

From Science Magazine • Oct. 4, 2023

Two of the organizations, the Center for Biological Diversity in Tucson and the Maricopa Audubon Society in Phoenix, sued the government in 2020, because an “adorable jumping mouse is being pushed closer to extinction.”

From Washington Post • Oct. 17, 2022

Print off the wildlife checklist before you go and watch for a Pacific jumping mouse and Roosevelt elk, among hundreds of finned, furred and feathered creatures listed.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 21, 2021

But Woodman believes that “other organisms were involved in Audubon’s ruse as well”, including the big-eye jumping mouse, lion-tail jumping mouse and the three-striped mole rat.

From The Guardian • May 3, 2016

The little burrow under examination, when called to observe the jumping mouse, proved to be made by the merry musicians of the meadows, the field-crickets, acheta campestris.

From Rambles of a Naturalist by Godman, John D.