Apodemus is a genus of murid (true mice and rats) containing the field mice as well as other well-known species like the wood mouse and the yellow-necked mouse. The name is unrelated to that of the Mus genus, instead being derived from the Greek ἀπό-δημος (literally away from home).

Taxonomy

Related to the Ryūkyū spiny rats (Tokudaia) and the prehistoric Rhagamys – and far more distantly to Mus and Malacomys – it includes these species:

Apodemus sensu stricto

Alsomys

Sylvaemus

Karstomys

Incertae sedis

Prehistoric species described from fossil remains include: