Kangaroo rats, small mostly nocturnal rodents of genus Dipodomys, are native to arid areas of western North America. The common name derives from their bipedal form. They hop in a manner similar to the much larger kangaroo, but developed this mode of locomotion independently, like several other clades of rodents.
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.
A kangaroo mouse is either one of the two species of jumping mouse native to the deserts of the southwestern United States, predominantly found in the state of Nevada. The name "kangaroo mouse" refers to the species' extraordinary jumping ability, as well as its habit of bipedal locomotion. The two species are:
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.
The plains pocket mouse is a heteromyid rodent of North America. It ranges from southwestern Minnesota and southeastern North Dakota to northern Texas east of the Rockies, and from northern Utah and Colorado to northern Chihuahua west of the Rockies.
The desert pocket mouse is a North American species of heteromyid rodent found in the southwestern United States and Mexico. True to its common name, the medium-sized desert pocket mouse prefers sandy, sparsely vegetated desert environments.
The Arizona pocket mouse is a rodent native to the Sonoran desert. It is a small mouse with a thinly furred tail that is smooth from base to tip. In color it ranges from tan to orange. It is a nocturnal, burrowing animal. It eats seeds, which it carries back to its burrow in its cheek pouches.
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 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.
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 desert kangaroo rat is a rodent species in the family Heteromyidae that is found in desert areas of southwestern North America. It is one of the large kangaroo rats, with a total length greater than 12 inches (300 mm) and a mass greater than 3.2 ounces (91 g).
Merriam's kangaroo rat is a species of rodent in the family Heteromyidae. The species name commemorates Clinton Hart Merriam. It is found in the Upper and Lower Sonoran life zones of the southwestern United States, Baja California, and northern Mexico.
The Panamint kangaroo rat is a species of rodent in the family Heteromyidae. It is endemic to the Mojave Desert in eastern California and western Nevada, in the United States.
The banner-tailed kangaroo rat is a species of rodent in the family Heteromyidae. It is found in arid environments in the southwestern United States and Mexico where it lives in a burrow by day and forages for seeds and plant matter by night.
Salvin's spiny pocket mouse is a small to medium-sized rodent in the family Heteromyidae. It was formerly placed in the genus Liomys, which is now recognized to be paraphyletic and has been subsumed into Heteromys.
The dark kangaroo mouse is a species of rodent in the family Heteromyidae. It is found in California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Utah in the United States.
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 San Joaquin pocket mouse or Salinas pocket mouse is a species of rodent in the family Heteromyidae. It is endemic to California in the United States where it lives in desert and semi-desert habitats.
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.
