A dormouse is any of 27 species of small rodents found in Eurasia, Japan, and Africa. They are not "true" mice. These small to medium-sized animals have large eyes, rounded ears, short legs and digits, and hairy or bushy tails. Dormice can be found in diverse habitats, from forests to deserts. Most are nocturnal and adept climbers. Their diets include fruits, nuts, insects, and even small rodents. Many species hibernate for long periods, especially during winter.

What does a dormouse look like?

Dormice are small to medium-sized rodents with soft, dense fur that ranges from gray to reddish. Some species have a dark stripe along their backs and dark markings on their faces. They have large eyes, rounded ears, short legs and digits, and hairy or bushy tails. The largest dormouse is the edible dormouse, which can weigh up to 180 grams (6.3 ounces), with a body up to 19 cm (7.5 inches) long and a tail up to 15 cm. One of the smallest is the Japanese dormouse, weighing up to 40 grams, with a body less than 8 cm long and a tail of up to 6 cm. The hazel dormouse, a common European species, has yellowish-brown fur. The desert dormouse has gray fur with a white underside.

Where do dormice live?

Dormice are small rodents found across Eurasia, North Africa, and Japan. They belong to the family Myoxidae and are not true mice. These creatures live in diverse habitats, from boreal and deciduous forests to orchards, tropical rainforests, and even deserts. Most dormice are nocturnal and build globular nests in trees, bushes, rock crevices, and burrows. They eat fruits, nuts, insects, bird eggs, and sometimes even small rodents or other dormice. Many species, especially those in temperate and boreal regions, hibernate during winter, occasionally waking to eat stored food.

Dormice are small rodents with large eyes, soft fur, rounded ears, and hairy tails. They can be found across Eurasia and North Africa. Dormice have a varied diet that consists of fruit, nuts, insects, spiders, bird eggs and nestlings, and even small rodents, including other dormice. They construct nests in trees, bushes, rock crevices, and burrows, and sometimes use abandoned bird or squirrel nests and active beehives. They are primarily nocturnal, but some are active during the day.

How do dormice survive during winter?

Dormice, found across Eurasia and Africa, survive winter through hibernation. They build nests in trees, bushes, rock crevices, or burrows, and accumulate body fat in autumn to prepare for the winter. During hibernation, dormice enter a state of torpor, occasionally waking to eat stored food. Hibernation involves complex physiological changes, turning them from warm-blooded to essentially cold-blooded animals for an extended period. Their body temperature drops to approximate the ambient temperature, and their respiration becomes faint. The nervous system adapts, allowing them to perceive environmental changes even in a torpid state.

Why are dormice important in their ecosystems?

Dormice, found across Eurasia and North Africa, play a crucial role in their ecosystems through their varied diet and habitat usage. They consume fruits, nuts, insects, and small animals, and also bird eggs and nestlings, influencing the populations of these food sources. Dormice construct nests in trees, bushes, rock crevices, and burrows, and sometimes use abandoned bird or squirrel nests or even beehives. As such, they contribute to seed dispersal and forest regeneration, while also serving as a food source for predators. Though their exact relationship to other rodents is not clear, they have a long evolutionary history and are the only members of the family Myoxidae.

dormouse

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

Quick Facts

Related Topics:: desert dormouse; Japanese dormouse; edible dormouse; Sciuromorpha; Myomorpha

See all related content

dormouse

rodent

Also known as: Myoxidae, dormice

Written and fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Nov. 9, 2026 •History

News •

Dormouse numbers may be helped by warmer summers - survey • Nov. 8, 2026, 7:56 PM ET (BBC)

Top Questions

What is a dormouse?
A dormouse is any of 27 species of small rodents found in Eurasia, Japan, and Africa. They are not "true" mice. These small to medium-sized animals have large eyes, rounded ears, short legs and digits, and hairy or bushy tails.

Dormice can be found in diverse habitats, from forests to deserts. Most are nocturnal and adept climbers. Their diets include fruits, nuts, insects, and even small rodents. Many species hibernate for long periods, especially during winter.
2 Britannica Sources
1. Did you know?
2. dormouse: Paleontology and classification
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What does a dormouse look like?
Dormice are small to medium-sized rodents with soft, dense fur that ranges from gray to reddish. Some species have a dark stripe along their backs and dark markings on their faces.

They have large eyes, rounded ears, short legs and digits, and hairy or bushy tails. The largest dormouse is the edible dormouse, which can weigh up to 180 grams (6.3 ounces), with a body up to 19 cm (7.5 inches) long and a tail up to 15 cm. One of the smallest is the Japanese dormouse, weighing up to 40 grams, with a body less than 8 cm long and a tail of up to 6 cm. The hazel dormouse, a common European species, has yellowish-brown fur. The desert dormouse has gray fur with a white underside.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Where do dormice live?
Dormice are small rodents found across Eurasia, North Africa, and Japan. They belong to the family Myoxidae and are not true mice. These creatures live in diverse habitats, from boreal and deciduous forests to orchards, tropical rainforests, and even deserts.

Most dormice are nocturnal and build globular nests in trees, bushes, rock crevices, and burrows. They eat fruits, nuts, insects, bird eggs, and sometimes even small rodents or other dormice. Many species, especially those in temperate and boreal regions, hibernate during winter, occasionally waking to eat stored food.
2 Britannica Sources
1. Did you know?
2. dormouse: Natural history
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What do dormice eat?
Dormice are small rodents with large eyes, soft fur, rounded ears, and hairy tails. They can be found across Eurasia and North Africa.

Dormice have a varied diet that consists of fruit, nuts, insects, spiders, bird eggs and nestlings, and even small rodents, including other dormice. They construct nests in trees, bushes, rock crevices, and burrows, and sometimes use abandoned bird or squirrel nests and active beehives. They are primarily nocturnal, but some are active during the day.
4 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How do dormice survive during winter?
Dormice, found across Eurasia and Africa, survive winter through hibernation. They build nests in trees, bushes, rock crevices, or burrows, and accumulate body fat in autumn to prepare for the winter.

During hibernation, dormice enter a state of torpor, occasionally waking to eat stored food. Hibernation involves complex physiological changes, turning them from warm-blooded to essentially cold-blooded animals for an extended period. Their body temperature drops to approximate the ambient temperature, and their respiration becomes faint. The nervous system adapts, allowing them to perceive environmental changes even in a torpid state.
2 Britannica Sources
1. dormouse: Natural history
2. dormancy: Entrance into hibernation
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Why are dormice important in their ecosystems?
Dormice, found across Eurasia and North Africa, play a crucial role in their ecosystems through their varied diet and habitat usage. They consume fruits, nuts, insects, and small animals, and also bird eggs and nestlings, influencing the populations of these food sources.

Dormice construct nests in trees, bushes, rock crevices, and burrows, and sometimes use abandoned bird or squirrel nests or even beehives. As such, they contribute to seed dispersal and forest regeneration, while also serving as a food source for predators. Though their exact relationship to other rodents is not clear, they have a long evolutionary history and are the only members of the family Myoxidae.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

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.

Natural history

Dormice are primarily nocturnal, but some are active during the day. Most species are arboreal and agile climbers, but some thrive in treeless, arid regions. Some are adept rock climbers, reportedly able to scale vertical rock faces and even walk upside down under rock ledges. Dormice construct globular nests in trees, bushes, rock crevices, and burrows and among tree roots; some also utilize abandoned bird or squirrel nests and, occasionally, active beehives. Their diet consists of fruit, nuts, insects, spiders, bird eggs and nestlings, and small rodents—even other dormice.

Dormice are found in Eurasia from western Europe to eastern China, in southern Japan, along the Mediterranean margin of North Africa, and throughout sub-Saharan Africa. They live in a diverse variety of habitats from boreal and deciduous forests to orchards and tropical rainforests, through open country broken by scattered clusters of trees and shrubs to clay and sandy deserts and rocky, dry plateaus. Species living at temperate and boreal latitudes accumulate body fat in the fall and hibernate during much of the winter, rousing occasionally to eat food that they have stored. Tropical and desert species experience periods of torpor but not hibernation.

Britannica Quiz

Deadliest Animals Quiz

Paleontology and classification

Dormice are not “true” mice (family Muridae); they are the only members of family Myoxidae, but their relationship to other rodents is not clear. Dormice have been allied with two different major groups: the squirrel-like rodents (suborder Sciuromorpha) and the mouselike rodents (suborder Myomorpha). In reality, the closest living relatives of dormice are unknown. The dormouse family has a long and diverse evolutionary history from the Early Eocene Epoch (54.8 million to 49 million years ago) in Europe and Asia and from the Middle Miocene Epoch (16.4 million to 11.2 million years ago) in Africa; this history produced today’s living forms as well as numerous extinct species in 36 genera that are represented only by fossils.

Family Myoxidae (dormice)
27 species in 3 subfamilies.
- Subfamily Graphiurinae
  1 genus.
  - Genus Graphiurus (African dormice)
    14 species.
- Subfamily Leithiinae
  10 species in 4 genera.
  - Genus Dryomys (forest dormice)
    4 species.
  - Genus Myomimus (mouse-tailed dormice)
    3 species.
  - Genus Eliomys (garden dormice)
    2 species, including the lerot.
  - Genus Selevinia (desert dormouse)
    1 species.
- Subfamily Myoxinae
  3 species in 3 genera.
  - Genus Glirulus (Japanese dormouse)
    1 species.
  - Genus Muscardinus (hazel dormouse)
    1 species.
  - Genus Glis (fat dormouse)
    1 species.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.

dormouse

News •

Natural history

Thank you for signing up!

Paleontology and classification