Desert pocket mouse | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Rodentia |
Family: | Heteromyidae |
Genus: | Chaetodipus |
Species: | C. penicillatus |
Binomial name | |
Chaetodipus penicillatus (Woodhouse, 1852) | |
The desert pocket mouse (Chaetodipus penicillatus) is a North American species of heteromyid rodent found in the southwestern United States and Mexico. [2] True to its common name, the medium-sized desert pocket mouse prefers sandy, sparsely vegetated desert environments.
Chaetodipus penicillatus is a medium-sized pocket mouse. The total length of adults usually does not exceed 180 mm. Coloration is grayish brown to yellowish gray and may be sprinkled with black. The pelage is coarse. This species lacks rump spines but has numerous, elongate rump hairs which are darker dorsally and lighter laterally. There is no lateral line. The underparts of the body and tail are whitish. The tail is heavily crested and is longer than the head and body, with average tail length being 109 mm. The soles of the hind feet are whitish and average hind foot length is 25 mm.
Chaetodipus penicillatus occurs in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The northern limit of its range is southern Nevada. It extends southwest into California and the northern Baja Peninsula and northwestern Mexico. Eastward it stretches into the southwesternmost parts of Colorado. From southern Nevada and southwestern Colorado the range of C. penicillatus proceeds southeast into Arizona, through southern New Mexico and southwestern Texas, and into northeastern Mexico. The desert pocket mouse prefers various arid, open desert environments, usually where the vegetation is rather sparse. These may include desert wash, desert succulent shrub, desert scrub, and alkali desert scrub. It prefers soft alluvial, sandy, or silty soils along stream bottoms, desert washes, and valleys, rather than rocky terrain. These pocket mice live in soils that may be vegetated with creosote bush, palo verde, burroweed, mesquite, cholla and other cacti, and short, sparse grass, as well as in lower edges of alluvial fan with yucca, mesquite, grama, and prickly poppy.
Six subspecies are currently recognised: [3]
Chaetodipus penicillatus may be active all year round in some areas, though it is inactive in the winter in southern Arizona. This species is mainly nocturnal. It is aggressively solitary, with a home range of less than 1 acre. Pocket mice can burrow into hard-crusted soils by actually physically chewing their way through the hard portions of the soil. Their burrows, however, are usually excavated in silty, sandy, or gravelly soil and are used for refuges, seed storage, and neonatal care. The average lifespan of C. penicillatus is around one year.
Chaetodipus penicillatus forages beneath a canopy of shrubs on sandy or gravely soils. It feeds primarily on seeds of forbs, grasses, and shrubs, although green vegetation and insects may supplement the diet. Seeds of mesquite, creosote bush, and broomweed have been found in the cheek pouches of desert pocket mice. Seeds are also stored in burrows and in dispersed caches throughout their territories. Although there is no direct evidence, this species probably acquires all of the water it needs from its food.[ citation needed ]
The mouse's breeding season is in the spring; adult females can give birth to one or more litters of two to five young during the spring and summer. Gestation lasts on average of 23 days. Incisors appear 9 days after birth, eyes open on day 14, and ears open no sooner than day 14. Many young females reach sexual maturity early and became pregnant while still in their juvenile pelage. Population has a turnover rate as high as 95%.
Heteromyidae is a family of rodents consisting of kangaroo rats, kangaroo mice, pocket mice and spiny pocket mice. Most heteromyids live in complex burrows within the deserts and grasslands of western North America, though species within the genus Heteromys are also found in forests and their range extends as far south as northern South America. They feed mostly on seeds and other plant parts, which they carry in their fur-lined cheek pouches to their burrows.
Perognathus is a genus of pocket mouse. Like other members of their family they are more closely related to pocket gophers than to true mice.
Perognathinae is a subfamily of rodents consisting of two genera of pocket mice. Most species live in complex burrows within the deserts and grasslands of western North America, They feed mostly on seeds and other plant parts, which they carry in their fur-lined cheek pouches to their burrows.
The rock pocket mouse is one of 19 species of pocket mice in the genus Chaetodipus. It is sometimes grouped in the genus Perognathus.
Chaetodipus is a genus of pocket mouse containing 17 species endemic to the United States and Mexico. Like other members of their family such as pocket mice in the genus Perognathus, they are more closely related to pocket gophers than to true mice.
Ord's kangaroo rat is a kangaroo rat native to western North America, specifically the Great Plains and the Great Basin, with its range extending from extreme southern Canada to central Mexico.
The hispid pocket mouse is a large pocket mouse native to the Great Plains region of North America. It is a member of the genus Chaetodipus.
The brush mouse is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is found in mountainous areas of Mexico and the western United States at altitudes over 2,000 m (6,600 ft).
Bailey's pocket mouse is a species of rodent of the subfamily Perognathinae, family Heteromyidae. It is found in Baja California, Sinaloa and Sonora in Mexico and in California, Arizona and New Mexico in the United States.
The California pocket mouse is a species of nocturnal and primarily solitary rodent in the family Heteromyidae.
The San Diego pocket mouse is a rodent species in the family Heteromyidae. It occupies the northern region of Baja California near San Diego extending into Mexico.
Goldman's pocket mouse is a species of rodent in the family Heteromyidae. It is endemic to Mexico, where it is threatened by the increasing conversion of its dry, scrubby habitat into agricultural land. As a result, the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being "near threatened".
Nelson's pocket mouse is a species of rodent in the family Heteromyidae. It is found in Mexico and in New Mexico and Texas in United States. It is named in honor of the American naturalist Edward William Nelson.
The Sinaloan pocket mouse is one of 17 species of pocket mice in the genus Chaetodipus. Two subspecies of C. pernix are recognized, C. p. pernix and C. p. rostratus, all are endemic to Mexico.
The spiny pocket mouse is a species of rodent in the family Heteromyidae and order Rodentia. It is found in Baja California in Mexico and in Arizona, California and Nevada.
The silky pocket mouse is a species of rodent in the family Heteromyidae. It is found in northern and central Mexico and the southwest region of the United States. It is a species of least concern, according to the IUCN, with no known major threats. The silky pocket mouse eats seeds, succulent parts of plants and nuts, and carries food in its cheek pouches. It lives in low valley bottoms with soft soils, among weeds and shrubs, where it burrows in the sand to bury seed caches. The species is more tolerant of harsh habitat conditions than other pocket mice.
The Great Basin pocket mouse is a species of rodent in the family Heteromyidae. It is found in British Columbia in Canada and the western United States.
The Pacific pocket mouse, Perognathus longimembris pacificus, is endemic to California. It lives in sandy coastal soils of the coastal sage scrub ecoregion. It eats seeds and some insects. It was believed to be extinct until 1993, when a small population was discovered. It is now a federally listed Endangered animal species.
The Chihuahuan pocket mouse is a species of heteromyid rodent found in the southwestern United States and Mexico. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the desert pocket mouse, but was determined to be a distinct species in 1996, following analysis of its mitochondrial DNA.
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(January 2013) |