Cactus mouse
![](../I/m/Peromyscus_eremicus_distribution.svg.png)
Distribution of the cactus mouse in America
The cactus mouse (Peromyscus eremicus) is a species of rodents in the family Cricetidae. They are one species of a closely related group of common mice often called deer mice.[2] Cactus mice are small, between 18 and 40 g in weight. Females weigh slightly more than males and are significantly larger in body length, ear length, length of mandible and bullar width of skull. Cactus mice can be identified by having naked soles on their hind feet, and almost naked tails which are usually the same length or longer than the animals body length. Its ears are nearly hairless, large, and membranous. Their fur is long and soft; coloration varies between subspecies, as well as between different populations. Color of fur varies from ochre to cinnamon, with a white stomach, and the sides and top of head slightly grayish.[3] Females tend to be slightly paler in color than males, while juveniles appear more gray than their parents.
Distribution and diet
Cactus mice are found in dry desert habitats in southwestern United States and northern Mexico, as well as islands off the coast of Baja California and in the Gulf of Mexico.[4][5] Low average temperatures and lack of mesquite (Prosopis juliflora) might limit northern expansion.[6] The cactus mouse occurs sympatrically with four other mice species, including the California mouse, canyon mouse, Eva's desert mouse and the mesquite mouse. The cactus mouse is nocturnal and feeds on seeds, mesquite beans, hackberry nutlets, insects, and green vegetation.[7] Species from Southern California have tested positive for hantavirus.[8]
References
- ↑ Linzey, A.V., Timm, R., Álvarez-Castañeda, S.T., Castro-Arellano, I. & Lacher, T. (2008). Peromyscus eremicus. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 3 September 2009. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern.
- ↑ National Park Service Website
- ↑ Veal, Rita and Caire, William, 1979. pp. 1–6 in Mammalian Species No. 118. Peromyscus eremicus. American Society of Mammalogists. Link label
- ↑ Brand, Leonard R. and Ryckman, Raymond E. 1968. Pp. 495–501 in Laboratory Life Histories of Peromyscus eremicus and Peromyscus interparietalis. Journal of Mammalogy, Vol. 49, No. 3.
- ↑ Superfamily Muroidea. Pp. 894–1531 in Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
- ↑ Veal, Rita and Caire, William, 1979. pp. 1–6 in Mammalian Species No. 118. Peromyscus eremicus. American Society of Mammalogists.
- ↑ Veal, Rita and Caire, William, 1979. pp. 1–6 in Mammalian Species No. 118. Peromyscus eremicus. American Society of Mammalogists. Link label
- ↑ Journalof the Society Of Vector Ecologists, Volume 26, Issue 2, December 2001
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| | | Baiomyini | |
- Southern Pygmy Mouse (B. musculus)
- Northern Pygmy Mouse (B. taylori)
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- Alston's Brown Mouse (S. teguina)
- Chiriqui Brown Mouse (S. xerampelinus)
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| Neotomini | |
- Subgenus Neotoma: White-throated Woodrat (N. albigula)
- Tamaulipan Woodrat (N. angustapalata)
- Bryant's Woodrat (N. bryanti)
- Nicaraguan Woodrat (N. chrysomelas)
- Arizona Woodrat (N. devia)
- Florida Woodrat (N. floridana )
- Goldman's Woodrat (N. goldmani)
- Desert Woodrat (N. lepida )
- White-toothed Woodrat (N. leucodon)
- Big-eared Woodrat (N. macrotis)
- Allegheny Woodrat (N. magister)
- Mexican Woodrat (N. mexicana)
- Southern Plains Woodrat (N. micropus)
- Nelson's Woodrat (N. nelsoni)
- Bolaños Woodrat(N. palatina)
- Stephen's Woodrat (N. stephensi)
- Subgenus Teanopus: Sonoran Woodrat (N. phenax)
- Subgenus Teonoma: Bushy-tailed Woodrat (N. cinerea)
- Dusky-footed Woodrat (N. fuscipes)
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| Xenomys |
- Magdalena Rat (X. nelsoni)
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| Hodomys |
- Allen's Wood Rat (H. alleni)
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- Goldman's Diminutive Woodrat (N. goldmani)
- Diminutive Woodrat (N. neotomodon)
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| Ochrotomyini | |
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| Reithrodontomyini | |
- californicus group: California Mouse (P. californicus)
- eremicus group: Cactus Mouse (P. eremicus)
- Angel Island Mouse (P. guardia)
- San Lorenzo Mouse (P. interparietalis)
- Dickey's Deer Mouse (P. dickeyi)
- False Canyon Mouse (P. pseudocrinitus)
- Eva's Desert Mouse (P. eva)
- Burt's Deer Mouse (P. caniceps)
- Mesquite Mouse (P. merriami)
- hooperi group: Hooper's Mouse (P. hooperi)
- leucopus group: White-footed Mouse (P. leucopus)
- Cotton Mouse (P. gossypinus)
- aztecus group: Aztec Mouse (P. aztecus)
- Gleaning Mouse (P. spicilegus)
- Winkelmann's Mouse (P. winkelmanni)
- boylii group: Brush Mouse (P. boylii)
- Nimble-Footed Mouse (P. levipes)
- Schmidly's Deer Mouse (P. schmidlyi)
- San Esteban Island Mouse (P. stephani)
- Texas Mouse (P. attwateri)
- Nayarit Mouse (P. simulus)
- Tres Marias Island Mouse (P. madrensis)
- White-Ankled Mouse (P. pectoralis)
- Chihuahuan Mouse (P. polius)
- melanophrys group: Plateau Mouse (P. melanophrys)
- Marsh Mouse (P. perfulvus)
- Puebla Deer Mouse (P. mekisturus)
- furvus group: Blackish Deer Mouse (P. furvus)
- El Carrizo Deer Mouse (P. ochraventer)
- Maya Mouse (P. mayensis)
- mexicanus group: Mexican Deer Mouse (P. mexicanus)
- Naked-Eared Deer Mouse (P. gymnotis)
- Guatemalan Deer Mouse (P. guatemalensis)
- Chiapan Deer Mouse (P. zarhynchus)
- Big Deer Mouse (P. grandis)
- Yucatan Deer Mouse (P. yucatanicus)
- Stirton's Deer Mouse (P. stirtoni)
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- Guerrero Harvest Mouse (R. bakeri)
- Short-nosed Harvest Mouse (R. brevirostris)
- Sonoran Harvest Mouse (R. burti)
- Volcano Harvest Mouse (R. chrysopsis)
- Chiriqui Harvest Mouse (R. creper)
- Darien Harvest Mouse (R. darienensis)
- Fulvous Harvest Mouse (R. fulvescens)
- Slender Harvest Mouse (R. gracilis)
- Hairy Harvest Mouse (R. hirsutus)
- Eastern Harvest Mouse (R. humulis)
- Western Harvest Mouse (R. megalotis)
- Mexican Harvest Mouse (R. mexicanus)
- Small-Toothed Harvest Mouse (R. microdon)
- Plains Harvest Mouse (R. montanus)
- R. musseri
- Nicaraguan Harvest Mouse (R. paradoxus)
- Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse (R. raviventris)
- Rodriguez's Harvest Mouse (R. rodriguezi)
- Cozumel Harvest Mouse (R. spectabilis)
- Sumichrast's Harvest Mouse (R. sumichrasti)
- Narrow-Nosed Harvest Mouse (R. tenuirostris)
- Zacatecas Harvest Mouse (R. zacatecae)
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| Neotomodon |
- Mexican Volcano Mouse (N. alstoni)
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- Yellow Isthmus Rat (I. flavidus)
- Mount Pirri Isthmus Rat (I. pirrensis)
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- Oaxaca Giant Deer Mouse (M. cryophilus)
- Nelson's Giant Deer Mouse (M. nelsoni)
- Thomas's Giant Deer Mouse (M. thomasi)
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- Chinanteco Deermouse (H. chinanteco)
- Delicate Deermouse (H. delicatulus)
- Ixtlán Deermouse (H. ixtlani)
- Zempoaltepec deermouse (H. lepturus)
- Crested-tailed Deermouse (H. lophurus)
- H. schmidlyi
- Jico Deermouse (H. simulatus)
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| Osgoodomys |
- Michoacan Deer Mouse (O. banderanus)
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