### animal | vertebrate | mammal:

Rodent
* All rodents are nocturnal.
* All rodents have a keen sense of smell and have poor eye sight
  - pair of constantly growing teeth at the front of their mouths called incisors
  - chisel-like incisor teeth at the front of their jaws to gnaw food
  - incisor teeth that grow constantly
  - incisors that grow continuously throughout their lives
  - razor-sharp insisorts that can gnaw through anything
  - two pairs of incisors with chisel-like edges for gnawing and cutting
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* Many rodents are notoriously prolific animals
  - dig burrows for nesting but forage above ground
  - eat both the grasshoppers and the eggs
  - have cheek pouches for the storage and carrying of food, nesting material, etc
  - hibernate over winter
* Most rodents adopt reproductive strategies
  - also prefer clay soil rather than sandy soil
* Most rodents are herbivores
  - herbivorous, but some are omnivorous, and others prey on insects
  - much smaller than capybaras
  - plant-eaters, searching out food with their sensitive noses and long whiskers
  - polygamous and some mate for the duration of a single breeding season
  - quite social, living in large groups with elaborate interactive behaviors
  - small animals with robust bodies, short limbs, and long tails
* Most rodents attract critters
  - other critters
  - become pests
  - bury nuts
* Most rodents carry bacteria
  - dangerous diseases
  - fleas
  - viruses
* Most rodents cause damage
  - property damage
  - consume matter
* Most rodents eat a wide range of plant material as well as invertebrates
  - crops
  - seeds or plants, though some have more varied diets
  - valuable crops
  - vegetation
  - young leaves
  - emerge from burrows
  - exhibit specific behavior
* Most rodents feed on plants
  - tubers
  - gain muscles
  - get water
  - has-part incisors
* Most rodents have behavioral characteristics
  - bones
* Most rodents have certain behavioral characteristics
  - compact bodies with short legs
  - ears
  - environments
  - eyesights
  - grow incisor teeth
  - healthy environments
  - hearts
  - keen eyesights
  - large eyes, especially the ones who are more active at night
  - life
  - long legs
  - similar appearances
  - vertebrae
  - years
  - hide in burrows
* Most rodents live during periods
  - for years
* Most rodents live in areas
  - climates
  - temperate climates
* Most rodents look like fat squirrels
  - love tubes, in which they can run through and chew
* Most rodents occupy ecological niches
  - similar ecological niches
* Most rodents possess incisors
  - upper incisors
* Most rodents reach maturity
  - sexual maturity
  - require food
* Most rodents resemble mice
  - rabbits
  - shrews
  - weasels
  - seek food
* Most rodents survive in dangerous environments
  - thrive in habitats
* Most rodents transmit diseases
  - parasites
  - typically eat seeds and plants
* Most rodents use claws
* Most rodents weigh few ounces
* Some rodents are located in ecosystems
  - sources of food in parts of the world
  - avoid heat
  - become extinction
  - can carry hantaviruses and are never sick
* Some rodents carry food in cheek pouches
* Some rodents cause extinction
  - illnesses
  - sickness
* Some rodents consume animals
  - grain products
* Some rodents destroy crops
  - harvest
* Some rodents eat animals
  - bait
  - birds
  - caterpillars
  - locusts
  - ragweed seeds
  - rodent bait
  - truffles
  - enter homes
* Some rodents feed on crops
  - woodlouses
  - get pneumonia
* Some rodents have color
  - either internal or external cheek pouches that open near the angle of the mouth
  - molars that grow all of the time much like the front teeth
  - numbers
  - quills
  - yellow color
  - hide in mountains
  - invade homes
* Some rodents live in Africa
  - arctic tundra
  - individuals
  - trees
* Some rodents live on dry seeds
* Some rodents make good pets
  - up diets
  - mate for life
  - move jaws
  - pick up viruses
* Some rodents play active roles
  - ecological roles
  - important ecological roles
  - significant ecological roles
  - prefer forests
  - provide parental care
  - rely on corn
  - resemble wombats
  - serve as predators
  - share territory
  - spread spores
  - survive years
  - transmit germ.
  * Most rodents are small. Examples of commonly known rodents are mice, rats, chipmunks, and squirrels. Some other small rodents sometimes kept as pets are Guinea pigs, hamsters, and gerbils
* There are more species of rodent in the world than all other mammals put together.
* account for up to forty percent of the entire mammal species.
* also are responsible for moving large amounts of soil
  - can burrow under the mulch and chew off the bark
  - dig pits searching for acorns, onion bulbs, and beetle grubs
  - soil our indoor environments with urine and rodent feces
* are Snowy owls' natural prey, particularly lemmings.
* are a common host but chiggers can attack a variety of other animals and humans
  - prey for vipers
  - commonly studied by professionals of all three fields
  - major cause of first-year saguaro mortality
  - much better model for humans
  - primary food source for snakes, which are known to snuggle up to warm objects
  - almost as numerous as bats
* are also responsible for large losses of grain
  - significant vectors of disease
  - very popular pets
* are an important part of the diet of many carnivorous mammals andbirds
  - source of rabies
  - at the base of many food chains in the wild and in cities
  - basically nocturnal
  - beneficial in several ways
  - carriers of viral, rickettsial and bacterial diseases
  - creatures of habit and prefer to follow the same runways they usually use
  - deathly fearful of the ferret's scent
  - far more susceptible to cancer induction than humans
  - found native on all continents except Antarctica
* are highly social animals and use many of thier senses to comunicate
  - socialanimals and use many of their senses to communicate
  - least abundant in the tobosa and burrograss areas
* are mammals characterized by upper and lower pairs of ever-growing rootless incisor teeth
  - that interfere with people, or cause harm to crops and livestock
  - meat
  - more apt to be seen or heard shortly after dark and in the early morning
  - mostly herbivorous, but yes, they are opportunistic omnivores as well
  - native to every continent except Antarctica , living in a number of different habitats
  - normally active at night, and generally avoid humans
* are particularly addicted to sweets and foods with sugar
  - sensitive to hormonal stimulation when tested for tumorigenicity
  - perhaps the most stable and successful of all orders of mammals
  - placental mammals
  - placentals
  - quadrupeds
  - quite intellegent and can master simple tasks when conditioned
  - relatively abundant and seek winter homes
  - reservoir of cutaneous leishmaniasis
  - significant reservoirs of rabies
* are small mammals like rats and mice
* are the most successful and diverse mammals on the planet
  - mammals in terms of geographical distribution
  - widespread and numerous mammals on earth
  - natural hosts and maintain the organism in the environment
* are the natural hosts for all hantaviruses
  - known hantaviruses
  - prey of many animals
  - primary reservoir hosts of all recognized hantaviruses
  - reservoir for hantavirus
  - typically very small and quick, fleeing to avoid capture
  - used widely as model organisms in animal testing
  - warm-blooded mammals that, like humans, can be found throughout the world
  - well haired over most of their body
* become more abundant by late spring
* can also enter homes through toilets
  - and do get sick or injured
* can be a real problem with fruit trees in the winter when food is scarce
  - the worst enemy in the cultivation of ginseng
* can be transport hosts for the roundworms of cats and dogs
  - roundworms of dogs and cats
  - very destructive
  - carry a number of diseases
* can carry and spread some bird diseases without being affected themselves
  - the bacteria
  - numerous diseases and are extremely destructive
  - contaminate stored foods, silverware, dishes, or food preparation surfaces
  - damage electrical wiring, causing short circuits and fires
  - easily remove unsecured bait
  - live on the spilled and surplus food from bird feeders and dog and cat food
  - smell the old urine from other rodents
  - squeeze through any opening that their head can fit through
* can survive almost anywhere except the sea
  - in small areas with limited amounts of food and shelter
  - thrive in such places, especially in cold weather
* carry and excrete the virus without adverse health effects
  - shed the soft ticks within structures, such as cabins
  - diseases and damage or even destroy homes as a result of their continuous gnawing
  - fleas and other parasites into buildings
  - hantavirus and plague, both of which can be fatal to humans
  - it and spread it through their feces
* cause a great deal of anxiety for occupants of infested buildings
* cause extensive damage to properties by gnawing on wood and wiring, often causing fires
  - economic damage by gnawing on structures and wiring, causing fires
  - some people to jump on chairs and scream, often falling and braking bones
* chew away a complete ring around plant stems, effectively girdling saplings.
* come in many shapes and sizes.
* commonly act as a source of infection on farms where the disease is endemic.
* comprise the bulk of the diet.
* consume and contaminate feed and spread numerous diseases.
* consume and contaminate significant numbers of the worlds food supply every year
  - percentages of the world's food supply every year
* contaminate more food than they eat and in so doing, many diseases are transmitted
  - our food supplies with potentially harmful germs and bacteria
  - ten times more food than they eat
* create problems.
* damage plants.
* do damage
  - typically dominate aggressively, but it isn t true of humans
* don t respect the status of their human housemates.
* eat a variety of different foods including leaves, fruit, seeds, and small invertebrates
  - almost everything used as food by man
  - and ruin food, damage property and spread disease
  - dates
* exhibit behavior
* feed chiefly on roots, seeds, and green crops.
* frequently serve as bioindicator to monitor the quality of the environment.
* generally have well-developed senses of smell , hearing, and vision.
* greatly outnumber other mammal groups in the forest.
* grow fluff and contemplate burrows.
* have a generalized, rather than specialized, type of brain and placentation
  - higher esterase activity then primates
  - notorious reputation as carriers of diseases and parasites
  - advanced cognitive abilities
  - both negative and positive impacts on humans
  - bulbous eyes
* have four toes on their front feet and five on the hind feet
  - high rate of reproduction
  - kidneys
* have large front teeth for gnawing and cheek teeth for chewing, like squirrels and gerbils
  - lots of natural predators
  - no pointed teeth called canine teeth
  - oily hair leaving smudge marks where they consistently travel
  - only a single upper pair of incisors
* have only one pair of upper incisors
  - set of teeth their entire lives
* have sharp front teeth that never stop growing
  - used for gnawing grains, nuts, and seeds
  - skin under their fur
  - strong claws that they use to dig burrows and hide from predators
  - taste
* have teeth that are specialized for chewing and gnawing
  - continuously grow
  - their own order, Rodentia
  - very keen hearing and sense of smell but have poor eyesight
  - wide-ranging morphologies, but typically have squat bodies and short limbs
* include mice.
  - cells
  - heads
  - skulls
* inhabit habitats.
* leave narrow teeth marks when feeding on branches.
* like to chew on motor winding insulation in the winter time
  - have nesting material
  - live close to where they can find food
* living in the south-eastern Australia are known to change their diet from summer to winter
  - on garbage or spoiled food prefer something fresh
* make up the bulk of their diet, along with an occasional ground-nesting bird.
* mark territory.
* memorize specific pathways and use the same routes consistently.
* migrate to adjacent farms and homes and create health and nuisance complaints.
* moving at night often scratch, gnaw, and fight.
* occur in many habitats, from tundra to deserts, living high in trees or underground burrows.
* often eat the pupae in the soil
  - feed on the prepupae and pupae in the duff
  - hoard food, such as seed or dog food, in their nests
  - plant seed
* prefer protected places in or near buildings.
* primarily disperse non-fleshy fruits as a consequence of seed predation activities.
* provide a hormone called ratatouille which prevents a form of cat weirdness known as miasma.
* readily chew through wood and thin plastic.
* release large amounts of protein in their urine as a normal physiological process.
* reproduce by internal fertilization , and have a great variety of mating rituals
  - rapidly, and small populations become full-blown infestations in very little time
* seem to steer clear of grass and alfalfa hays.
* shed hantavirus particles in their saliva, urine and droppings.
* show less variation in body plan than many other mamillian orders
  - sex differences in the same brain areas
* sometimes attack the roots
  - destroy bulbs
* species diversity in pine forests recovering from fire.
* tend to be rapid breeders
  - build their nests from materials that are soft, fuzzy, or warm
* typically require material to gnaw upon since their teeth are constantly growing.
  - their teeth to chip away at their food
* would have problems
  - serious problems
+ Order (biology), Examples of orders: Taxonomy
  * Rodents are an order. Rats and mice are in one family. Squirrels belong in another family.
+ Skin: Integumentary system
  * Rodents have skin under their fur. Mice have skinned tails with little hair barely able to see.