Common Ink Cap vs Lesser Pencil-tailed Tree Mouse

Coprinopsis atramentaria compared with Chiropodomys pusillus

Key Differences

• Common Ink Cap is Least Concern while Lesser Pencil-tailed Tree Mouse is Data Deficient.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Common Ink Cap	Lesser Pencil-tailed Tree Mouse
Kingdom	Fungi (Fungi)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Basidiomycota (Club Fungi)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Agaricomycetes (Mushrooms)	Mammalia (Mammals)
Order	Agaricales (Gilled Mushrooms)	Rodentia (Rodents)
Family	Psathyrellaceae	Muridae (Mice & Rats)
Genus	Coprinopsis	Chiropodomys
Species	Coprinopsis atramentaria	Chiropodomys pusillus

Conservation Status

Common Ink Cap

LC — Least Concern

Lesser Pencil-tailed Tree Mouse

DD — Data Deficient

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Common Ink Cap	Lesser Pencil-tailed Tree Mouse
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Common Ink Cap

Habitat

Typically found in forest floors, decomposing wood, and soil ecosystems.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Taiwan), Europe (4 countries), and North America (United States).

Lesser Pencil-tailed Tree Mouse

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Common Ink Cap

<em>Coprinopsis atramentaria</em>, commonly known as the common ink cap, is a saprotrophic fungus in the family Psathyrellaceae. It is classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, with a distribution spanning Asia (including Taiwan), Europe, and North America. The species typically grows on forest floors, buried wood, stumps, and other decomposing woody substrates in temperate regions. As a saprotroph, it plays an important ecological role in breaking down organic matter. The common ink cap is notable for containing coprine, a compound that inhibits aldehyde dehydrogenase and causes unpleasant reactions when consumed with alcohol. Diet information for this species is not available in current records. Biological traits of this species remain poorly documented in the scientific literature.