Dormouse

dormouse, (family Myoxidae), any of 27 species of small-bodied Eurasian, Japanese, and African rodents. The largest, weighing up to 180 grams (6.3 ounces), is the fat, or edible, dormouse (Glis glis) of Europe and the Middle East, with a body up to 19 cm (7.5 inches) long and a shorter tail up to 15 cm. One of the smallest is the Japanese dormouse of southern Japan (Glirulus japonicus), weighing up to 40 grams and having a body that measures less than 8 cm long and a tail of up to 6 cm. Dormice are small to medium-sized and have large eyes, rounded ears, short legs and digits, and hairy or bushy tails. Their gray to reddish fur is soft and dense; some species have a dark stripe along the back and dark facial markings.