Narrow-faced kangaroo rat

Narrow-faced kangaroo rat
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1) [1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Heteromyidae
Genus:	Dipodomys
Species:	D. venustus
Binomial name
Dipodomys venustus (Merriam, 1904)

The narrow-faced kangaroo rat (Dipodomys venustus) is one of almost 20 species of kangaroo rats, a rodent in the family Heteromyidae. ^[2] It is endemic to California in the United States. ^[1]

Like all other heteromyids, the dental formula of Dipodomys venustus is 1.0.1.31.0.1.3 × 2 = 20. ^[3]

Narrow-faced kangaroo rats lives within chaparral, mixed chaparral, and on sandy soils with oak or pine. They are distributed along West-central California in the coastal mountains. ^[4] They have been divided into three subspecies:

• Dipodomys venustus venustus (Santa Cruz kangaroo rat) ^{[5] [6]} , which inhabit the Santa Cruz Mountains and Mount Hamilton range, the latter a central sub-range of the Diablo Range
• Dipodomys venustus elephantinus (Elephant-eared or big-eared kangaroo rat) ^{[5] [6]} , which inhabit the Gabilan Range and southern Diablo Range
• Dipodomys venustus sanctiluciae (Santa Lucia kangaroo rat); which inhabit the Santa Lucia Range ^[6]

References

1. Cassola, F. (2016). "Dipodomys venustus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T42605A22227166. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T42605A22227166.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
2. Patton, J.L. (2005). "Family Heteromyidae". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 849. ISBN   978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC   62265494.
3. Myers, Phil (2001). "Heteromyidae: kangaroo rats, pocket mice, and relatives". Animal Diversity Web. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
4. Best, Troy L. “Dipodomys Venustus.” Mammalian Species, no. 403, 1992, pp. 1–4. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3504315.Retrieved 3 December 2017.
5. Goldingay, Ross L., Kelly, Patrick A., Williams, Daniel F. (1997). "The Kangaroo Rats of California: endemism and conservation of keystone species". Pacific Conservation Biology. 3 (1): 47–60.
6. Alhajeri,Bader H. (2025). "Cranial variation in species and subspecies of kangaroo rats (Dipodomys, Dipodomyinae, Rodentia) according to geometric morphometrics". Integrative Zoology. 20: 108–134.