Manx mice for computers?

[Joel S. Berson]

At 10/6/2006 07:58 PM, you wrote:
>Probably not found since it is likely only a clever gag.  Searching through
>/Les Mammiferes Sauvages d'Europe/ I find no tailless mice, not that that
>necessarily rules out their possible existence...just raises a doubt.
>There is a *nearly* tailless  related species, /Mesocricetus  auratus/,
>properly a  golden hamster, whose very short tail is often  hidden ("cachee
>dans les poils  allonges  de la partie posterieure  de la corps.")
>Since "mouse" turned out to be, rather to my disappointment, NOT a clever
>acronym,  "hamster" could as well be invoked for the cordless relative.
>AM

I assumed the following was not a gag.   Perhaps I have been hoaxed,
but if so so have others, including perhaps Paul Gallico (who
certainly knows their--I mean the mice's--nemeses).  From
http://sg.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060822152840AA9YMzb:

Has anyone ever heard of a 'manx mouse'?

I didn't until this past weekend; we were at a petshop and we were
looking at the mice, and the pet shop owner, who we're pretty close
to, said, 'hey, get a load of this,' and he took out a 'manx mouse'.
They're like a hamster, only they definately look more like a mouse;
and they sometimes have a little stump or a tail that's curled kind
of like a piggies, lol, and they have a little waddle-hop more like a
guinea pig than a typical mouse. And there's no way it's a hamster;
down here in Australia, we don't have hamsters, not allowed to bring
them here. Anyone else ever seen one? And want to tell me a bit more
about them?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

Manx, also known as "tailless", is a gene in mice which causes a
shortened tail. When bred towards shorter and shorter tails, a mouse
with absolutely no tail can be created.

Or from http://www.mayleen.com/rcentral/mmanx.htm:

Manx, also known as "tailless", is a gene in mice which causes a
shortened tail. When bred towards shorter and shorter tails, a mouse
with absolutely no tail can be created.

Manx in mice (at least in my own experience) is a dominant gene with
additional modifier(s) which control exactly how long the tail should
be. You need the main manx gene to see any tail shortening. It works
line an on-off switch; without the main gene the tail is always full length.

Or from the Australian Rodent Fanciers Society of NSW, Inc., at
http://www.ausrfsnsw.com/index.php?page=/pages/showresults.php:

Best Long Coat Rex Mouse: Mountain Blue Prince of Siam, exhibited by
Georgia Luff Best Manx Mouse: Elwyn, exhibited by Kylie Allen

And the computer Manx mouse is no hoax (it surely will have to enter
the OED at some point), whether or not there is a mammalian Manx mouse.

Joel

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