Spiny Mice Have Bones in Their Skin

[@ebonyblack4563]

Spiney mice to the tail dropping lizards: "Can we copy your homework?" "Yeah, just change it up a little."

[@blobfishthedevourer3735]

They basically reinvented the tail-losing ability of most lizards, though in this case it’s more like tail-loosening. Quite wierd

[@OBIIIIIIIII]

I’ve worked with Turkish spiny mice. They’re data deficient so we don’t know if they’re extinct in the wild (the earthquake will not have helped them) or if they’re their own species, or a subspecies of the Asia Minor spiny mouse. Certainly one to watch for future research

[@Eisenwulf666]

i was wondering, because them being african made me immediately think of afrotheria. Yet here they show them belonging in the muridae. So they probably came to Africa at a later time. Very interesting little critters

[@KabuMontasaurios]

You are awesome! :)

[@OBIIIIIIIII]

@@Eisenwulf666 yes they are muridae

[@you1027]

My internet-addled brain 100% read that title first as "spicy mice"

[@tomholroyd7519]

when the show started I was like "not unless their bones stick out of their skin!" and then later I was like whoa a mammal with osteoderms 🤯

[@deinsilverdrac8695]

Armadillo in the corner, with a judgmental look : Pathetic.

[@RiverWilliamson]

For real. Live osteoderm react

[@theshuman100]

​@@deinsilverdrac8695look how much they need to mimic just a fraction of our power

[@whywatt733]

Ground sloths had osteoderms as well. On the belly and flank.

[@starstorm1267]

Pangolins: *disappears from existence*

[@obiwahndagobah9543]

When I was a kid, my family had the Egyptian species as pets. One time when moving them outside the cage to clean it, one mouse escaped. And when we did catch it, we could get only hold of it by the tail. Well, like in the video, the skin sadly fell off like a sleeve. The tail did die off and the mouse ate it, so from that moment we had a "hamster" among the mice.

[@Sinnistering]

Ohhhh, I'm so happy you're still doing regular episodes. I was worried with the remastering announcement these would go on hiatus. I just love Sarah's energy and funky style in these.

[@travvitz]

Im so excited to see an episode about spiny mice!! Part of my job is maintaining a research colony of spiny mice.

[@travvitz]

Another really interesting thing about spiny mice is that they have a long gestation for a rodent and give birth to precocial young!! They do most brain and organ development while still in utero, as opposed to mice and rats, which finish up brain and organ development after being born. Plus spiny mice menstruate!

[@Cillana]

I was not surprised when you said their closest relative was gerbils. I had gerbils as a kid and once accidentally grabbed one by the latter half of the tail while trying to catch it (little escape artists kept getting out of their cages) and that part of the tail degloved. 😢 My book said to only grab the base of the tail but didn't say what would happen if I didn't! This was pre-internet days. He later chewed off the degloved portion of his tail. 😳 I was horrified by the whole experience, but the new end of the tail healed fine and he lived a normal gerbil lifespan just with a shorter tail.

[@eRic-hr3yl]

When you talked about inner bone armor I thought the video was going to be about the armored or hero shrew, that *is* a true skeleton armor entirely made of actual inner bone.

[@weirdalexander8193]

I heard native people in their habitat balance on one foot on top of them, then step off so that it scampers away unaffected. Why? To let the tourists know that you don’t screw around in the African savanna, because what the heck did that bootleg mouse evolve to survive?

[@wxlurker]

That sounds fascinating I’m gonna have to google them

[@MikeAG333]

Unbelievable little creature, that can bear the weight of an adult (human) standing on it.

[@angelalewis3645]

No way! Now I’ve got to look them up.

[@jenniferstrover1276]

Super healing, armoured bones... this is the Wolverine mouse

[@NewMessage]

Spiny mouse fashion is really on-point!

[@victoriaeads6126]

Sarah, you've got BOTH a face for TV AND a voice for radio. I love how you've settled into hosting BB, and I look forward to more of this plus whatever else you end up doing on your journey. TY!

[@Jibash]

Nothing goes better with Bizzare Beasts goofy music than easily teaeing skin Thinking of these poor guys makes me quiver

[@astick5249]

I still cant get over the fact that these mice literally give up their skin and grow it back like a lizard does its tail.

[@obiwahndagobah9543]

Sadly it doesn't grow back. When they loose the skin, the tail will dry up and die off.

[@victoriaeads6126]

I already ordered a banner last month, hoping it arrives with my adorable spiny mouse pin!! Glad to see Sarah. I'm thrilled to see the OG vlogbrothers episodes remastered, but I also love your regular content. It wasn't clear whether they would run concurrently. I just discovered BB in the summer, so I was also excited at the chance to purchase some of the original pins!

[@facelesscleric2744]

I used to have some pet gerbils, I had no idea they had such an interesting relative.

[@camerongrow6426]

This thing keeps sounding more and more like a Pokemon

[@FlinnGaidin]

My cat once caught a mouse,...the mouse degloved its tail and got away, though at the time I didn't know that this something the mouse did on purpose, lol. Have caught (and released) spiny mice in traps as well, cute little buggers.

[@joshdoe7288]

I actually work with spiny mice daily for my career! They’re being used in biomed research

[@LimeyLassen]

Careful about the spines!

[@cuddlepaws4423]

I'm sure the mice feel VERY privileged being used as research subjects and furry test tubes.

[@travvitz]

I also work with spinies for research :)

[@andyjay729]

With those healing abilities, they certainly are worthy subjects. Also, how sharp are their spines?

[@joshdoe7288]

@@cuddlepaws4423 okay. Keep telling yourself that and then go home and take an Advil. Or get a medical procedure done that was first preformed on an animal subject. Or go take your dog to the vet. Literally all medical advancement comes from animal research. Computer models are no where near good enough and we are trying to transition. Everyone in this field has pets and loves animals. People that think animal testing is wrong truly have no idea what’s going on

[@teawrecks1243]

0:59 "You thought it was an ordinary mouse, but it was me, DIO-myinae! WRYYYYY!"

[@aquasaurusrex2509]

Clints worst nightmare- a mammal that can drop its tail

[@A1-ultra]

How did they not mention armadillos when listing armored mammals? I thought those were the most iconic armored mammals. Definitely the first thing that came to my mind.

[@Cillana]

I was thinking the same but then she mentioned them later when talking about osteoderms. I assume they wanted the first list to include mammals with only keratin armor. Armadillos have both.

[@CasaVipera]

I worked with Sinai spiny mice (A. dimitiatus) they are hella resistant to snakevenom!

[@oopsy444]

I read the title as spicy mice and was genuinely curious what made them spicy

[@PokeMasrerJ]

Want to make sure I have all this right. For one, they have some tough bones in their tails, that makes it hard to get through, and they have almost a "second skin" on their tails that can come off?

[@Junketh71]

Maybe you can discuss African flying squirrels next? They got scales on the bottoms of their tails.

[@megamike420]

I had an African spiney back mouse when I was young! Splinter was a great mouse!

[@Atomy111]

Degloving is also something that can happen to you if you get grabbed by machinery

[@winterwatson6811]

psa: don’t search for degloving images

[@mileenaslefthip1242]

Whyyyy

[@PanikaMCD]

I had Egyptian spiny mice growing up and can confirm the degloving is weird. it happened most often before we knew we needed to add some meal worms to their diet. they’re on the monkey pox list now, but you can find some breeders in the US. they live quite a long time for mice, have litters of 1-2 pups, and bite very hard so kids won’t be tempted to take them out all the time which makes it less likely that you’ll have kids leaving their enclosures unsecured-though we did have a raccoon that wiped out a whole terrarium of females once and had to make them their own special enclosures which were even more secure than rocks on top of a terrarium. 10/10 would have them again if I didn’t have to have them sent by freight from Kansas to obtain them.

[@TedH71]

Apparently they're the food most highly preferred by ball pythons because they share the same habitat in Africa. If you have a baby ball python that is refusing to eat, often you can rub a thawed dead spiny mouse on a regular mouse item, the baby will take it more readily.

[@PanikaMCD]

@@TedH71 makes sense, but it also makes me sad since spiny mice tend to have some personality.

[@evilsharkey8954]

I’m aware that gerbils can deglove their tails, too. I learned that the creepy hard way.

[@Cillana]

Same

[@paulkinzer7661]

I love the fun music played in the background as you describe these cute but very strange critters!

[@albertonykus]

Great spotlight on these critters! Check out the maned rat (Lophiomys imhausi) for another bizarrely defended (and secretly armored!) rodent.

[@VictoriaEMeredith]

Maned rats have a full-body mohawk! Very cool critters.

[@andyjay729]

BB will definitely have to cover them someday.

[@paytonpryor]

Grey squirrels can deglove their tails as well.

[@cyrilio]

Love the pin display banner merch. Made something similar myself for the pins I have but if I hadn't I'd definitely consider getting one from Bizar Beasts.

[@christopherreynolds7594]

So spiny mice are mice mixed with a hedgehog, a lizard, and Wolverine (X-men). Got it.

[@addi7719]

This is gonna blow your guys’ minds, but ALL of my bones are in my skin.

[@billorarson-andersson497]

Giant sloths had osteoderms throughout their bodies

[@thatcorpse]

degloving is usually reference to the skin on your hand. Do not Google during a meal.

[@matthewharris-levesque5809]

Unfortunately, degloving is not unique to Acomys. I once had a roommate who's rat did this. It happens in other rodents too. Spiny mice were popular in the pet trade in my area about 20 years ago; they made for decent pocket pets.

[@beelzevuv]

Yeah it happened to my fancy rat too - it was terrifying

[@LordBrittish]

Here I come to save the daaay! Spiny Mouse is on his waaaaay!

[@astick5249]

the only reason i know this is because my dad occasionally chants this

[@warhawkjah]

Spiny mice closely related to gerbils…must be painful for Richard Gere if he gets them confused…

[@mecahhannah]

Awesome as always thanks

[@alexburke1899]

Being able to regrow their spine seems like something we should study further for human medicine!

[@skyem5250]

Mouseteoderms

[@ThuậnHòa-p2t]

Pins of spiny mice be like:

[@MaryAnnNytowl]

And here I was hoping they had some armor hidden up around their torso. 😂 Dang it! Quite a fascinating little critter, though! If we can figure out how they heal so well, imagine what we could do! I'm mainly thinking of those with spinal cord injuries, but I can see it helping everyone from burn victims to those who had necrotising fascitis (sp?), or any kind of serious skin injury or disease.

[@beelzevuv]

My first fancy rat's tail degloved and it was a horrifying experience The vet had to amputate the bone left behind - thankfully it was just the very end of her tail

[@takenname8053]

Didn't know I was going to learn about the convergent evolution of tear away tails between lizards and mice!

[@MariaMartinez-researcher]

(Gotta love scientists committed enough to study mice tails 🐀)

[@skeeterinnewjersey5256]

I cannot WAIT to get this pin! I will have to find a better display location than my backpack for this one.

[@evanl6819]

clan moulder really outdid themselves this time

[@angelalewis3645]

They’re like the lizards that detach their tails!

[@eldermillennial8330]

Had a chance to own some as pets, I kind of regret not taking the opportunity.

[@jademcgill7135]

Do degus’ also have this?

[@destiny5544]

I had a family of them when I was a kid. I loved them so much. The spines didn't stop my mom's cat 😢

[@bbbenj]

Such adorable creatures!

[@YunxiaoChu]

Why do they need osteoderms if they chew up their tail anyways?

[@jamesleatherwood5125]

5:37 Three blind mice, Three Blind Mice, See how they run! See how they run! They all ran after the farners wife, she cut their tails off with a carving knife, have you ever seen such a sight in your life as the three blind mice! (Sorry, I heard the word "mice" in the sane sentence as one of the "=ife" words in that nursery rhyme. Had to!. lol)

[@jamesleatherwood5125]

OHHHHH!!!! THATS what its called. I had a gerbil once that got away from me and tried to burrow into the couch cusions, and i grabbend its tail only for the muscle and bone to desheath from the skin and leave the sheath in my hand. We eventually got the gerbil back and put it back in its cage, the next day the tailbones and muscels were all stiff and rigid. We called the pet store we had gotten from and since the incident happened on the day we brought the gerbil home, they exchanged it for another gerbil. They never rally explained much other than to say that kind of thing happens sometimes, not to worry about it. Yay! I finallty know the name of the phenomenon! Woot!

[@Sazoji]

yea but do the other spiny mice that can't deglove also have dermal bones?

[@MrDaftFunk]

Intelligent and has great personalities!

[@sarahlouise7163]

they look floofy but they are spiky and ouchie

[@lissakaye610]

Egyptian spiny mice are the sweetest things

[@nikolaisafronov3452]

Love the color of the hair ❤

[@Kazzzack]

Thank you for not showing the degloved tails lol

[@m.nic.5080]

Had two of these as pets for a few years. They’re weird little critters and nothing like regular mice, rats, or hamsters. IIRC importing them into the USA was banned in 2020 so I don’t think any more are in the pet trade here anymore but they were great while they lasted.

[@quinn_griffin]

I recently learned about the African Crested Rat, another rodent with an interesting defensive adaptation.

[@lolnamelollastname9788]

I wonder if these creatures could be used in researching FOP/human statue syndrome or EB

[@kolt9051]

how fun. thanks!

[@bowen13]

Thought this was gonna be the hero shrew, but still cool!

[@ErdriedDeirdre]

And now I'm wondering if gerbils are mice. 😅

[@WedgyBlue]

electric, rock, or steel type?

[@LeBongFairy]

I love these little freaks of nature

[@solsoman102]

i love your hair!

[@gavinlee4537]

I’m just here for my recommended.

[@YochevedDesigns]

So, they are basically the day geckoes of mice, what with that skin tearing off thing.

[@mellowboba9298]

I read the title as spicy mice

[@isacyuh]

why did I read it" Spicy" not SPINY 😂

[@fantoast6932]

hey that reminds me of the pokemon called togedemaru!

[@TeethSkylark]

I misread Spiny Mice as "Spicy Mice"

[@essenlame]

...and a place in my heart.

[@htomerif]

Wow. Something I've never heard of before. That's unusual. I have heard of degloving though, which is probably a word borrowed from other disciplines than biology. Its why we don't wear rings in electrical engineering, generally.

[@loksven83]

I read "Spiny mice" as "spicy mice" and I was gonna ask why and how do we know it's spicy!? 😅

[@Ionee-q4f]

for two minutes i thought the title was spicy mice, ig they're orange thats a color of spice

[@Aztesticals]

Wait this inspired the yughio card ten thousand Needles

[@jospinner1183]

At least one species of spiny mouse (the Cairo spiny mouse) has another anatomical oddity: females have a menstrual cycle instead of an estrous cycle. The vast majority of mammalian species (like >98%) have an estrous cycle, where the adult female is fertile for a period, then the body re-absorbs the endometrial lining that was prepared in advance for potential pregnancy. Humans have a menstrual cycle instead, where the endometrial lining is shed and excreted from the body during the menstrual period. As far as we know, the only menstruating mammals are humans, ten monkey and ape species, four bat species, the elephant shrew, and the Cairo spiny mouse. These distantly-related taxa suggest that menstruation evolved independently at least 4 times in several lineages. So yeah, Cairo spiny mice are weird for multiple reasons.

[@simpindulgence6384]

I read this as Spicy Mice.

[@0Happīkā0]

I've had the opportunity, or misfortune, to work with spinys as feeders. I had to shut that down fast. Rats are so much better..😁

[@anaconda6016]

BONE MICE

[@sainjawoof3506]

Woohoo a RODENT🐭, and from Africa 🌍, two of my loves represented this month! Edit: their tearaway skin reminds me of Ehlers Danlos Syndrome

[@pugsandcoffeeplease]

1:46 stretchies!!! 🥹

[@jamesleatherwood5125]

5:59 Wait wut! I paused the video at the degloving statement to talk about my gerbil experience! and Gerbils show up! I gues its a familial shared trait! lol Sweet!

[@Vocalinds]

I love your videos, but I wonder if you could turn down the background music a bit? I absolutely cannot concentrate on what you're saying becaise the music is too loud!

[@robertmcauslan6191]

These were my absolute favorite rodent to work with. I think they make great pets, compared to hamsters and other mice. They are born semi precocious, like guinea pigs. I dis find that I get species aggression was usually taken out on the tails.

[@gabrielsfilms2086]

osteoderms! I know that word! they find those on dinos!

[@fernandoflores3161]

And what about armadillos?

[@PHiLLy2c]

Its a togedemaru (generation 7 pikachu clone)

[@clockwork8968]

Spicy Mice.