| Mexican Volcano Mouse Temporal range: Pleistocene - Recent |
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|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Cricetidae |
| Subfamily: | Neotominae |
| Tribe: | Reithrodontomyini |
| Genus: | Neotomodon Merriam, 1898 |
| Species: | N. alstoni |
| Binomial name | |
| Neotomodon alstoni Merriam, 1898 |
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The Mexican Volcano Mouse (Neotomodon alstoni) is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae endemic to high elevations of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt.
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Merriam originally described the Mexican Volcano Mouse as one of three species in the genus Neotomodon; N. alstoni was moved to the deer mouse genus Peromyscus in 1979, then subsequently moved back to Neotomodon.[1] Merriam does not state after whom the species is named in his original description for the genus (and species).[2] Despite the current taxonomy, a recent phylogeny based on cytochrome-b sequences shows Peromyscus to be polyphyletic, and the authors of that paper suggest Neotomodon (and several other monotypic genera) be transferred to Peromyscus.[3]
With relatively large eyes and ears, bi-colored body and tail (dark dorsally and white ventrally), and a tail slightly shorter than the body length, the Mexican Volcano Mouse appears very similar to a deer mouse, but it is diagnosed by several skull characters including the number and extent of palatal ridges and molar characteristics.[3]
Mexican Volcano Mouse breeding is thought to occur between June and September, with two to three litters of 3.3 young per litter, per year.[3] The mouse exhibits bi-parental care in captivity, which suggests a monogamous mating system.[4] Little is known about other life history characteristics--for example, sex ratios, age at first breeding, etc.--of the species.