vs Mound-building Mouse

Comatricha nigra compared with Mus spicilegus

Key Differences

is Not Evaluated while Mound-building Mouse is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank		Mound-building Mouse
Kingdom	Protozoa (protozoa)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Mycetozoa	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Myxomycetes (Myxomycetes)	Mammalia (Mammals)
Order	Stemonitidales	Rodentia (Rodents)
Family	Stemonitidaceae	Muridae (Mice & Rats)
Genus	Comatricha	Mus (House Mice)
Species	Comatricha nigra	Mus spicilegus

Conservation Status

NE — Not Evaluated

Mound-building Mouse

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute		Mound-building Mouse
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Habitat

Native to Asia and Europe and North America, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Taiwan), Europe (Belgium, Norway, Sweden), North America (United States), and South America (Brazil).

Mound-building Mouse

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Comatricha nigra is among the more widely distributed species in the genus Comatricha, with documented records from Asia, Europe, North America, and South America. It belongs to the class Myxomycetes, order Stemonitidales, and is recognized by its dark, stalked sporangia with a distinctive capillitium. The species grows on decaying wood, bark, and moist plant debris in forest habitats across its broad geographic range. As with all plasmodial slime molds, C. nigra undergoes a life cycle that includes a motile plasmodial feeding stage and a reproductive sporangial stage. The feeding plasmodium consumes bacteria, fungal spores, and organic particles, playing a role in nutrient cycling and decomposition. The global distribution of C. nigra reflects the capacity of slime mold spores to disperse over long distances via wind currents. No quantitative biological metrics are recorded, and the species has not been assessed by the IUCN.