Chaetodipus penicillatus
Desert Pocket Mouse
(Chaetodipus penicillatus) | |
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Range | |
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Taxonomic classification | |
Order: | Rodentia |
Suborder: | Supramyomorpha |
Infraorder: | Castorimorphi |
Family: | Heteromyidae |
Subfamily: | Perognathinae |
Genus: | Chaetodipus |
Binomial details | |
Chaetodipus penicillatus (Woodhouse, 1852) |
Description
From Hoffmeister (1986): "Size medium to small...; rump without spines or spine-like hairs; tail usually 10-20 mm longer than head-body; tail lightly pencillate; dorsal tail stripe slightly darker than rest of dorsum; dorsal coloration grayish or pinkish brown mixed with black and dark browns."
From Mantooth & Best (2005): "Chaetodipus penicillatus is a medium-sized heteromyid with a long, crested, mostly naked , tufted tail. Tail and tuft are dusky dorsally, and portion of tail proximal to tuft is white ventrally. Ventral pelage is yellowish brown to yellowish gray and dorsal pelage is white or buff with an obscure or absent lateral line (Hall 1981; Osgood 1900; Woodhouse 1852). Rump spines are absent."
From Jameson & Peeters (2004): "A medium-sized pocket mouse with rather coarse, but not spiny, yellow gray pelage. Its tail is faintly bicolored, often annulated (ringed), with a conspicuous tuft and crest. The heel of the hind foot is naked. The ears are relatively pointed."

External measurements
Length measurements are in millimeters (mm) and weight measurements are in grams (g), unless stated otherwise. If available, the sample size (n=) is provided. If a range is not provided and n= is not given, then the listed measurement represents an average.
Part of range | Reference | Total length | Tail length | Hindfoot length | Ear length | Mass |
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California | Jameson & Peeters (2004) | 153–221 | 91–121 | 21–27 | 14–20 | |
not reported | Ceballos (editor, 2014) | 162–216 | 83–129 | 22–27 | 7–10 | 16.5 |
not reported | Mantooth & Best (2005) | males: 167.7 (n=20); females: 167.3 (n=20) | males: 91.1 (n=20); females: 91.5 (n=20) | males: 21.6 (n=20); females: 23.1 (n=20) | males: 8.2 (n=20); females: 8.5 (n=20) | 16.89 |
Skull
Similar species
From Hoffmeister (1986): "[Chaetodipus] intermedius differs from [Chaetodipus] penicillatus, the species with which it is most frequently confused, in the presence of spinelike hairs on the rump; hind foot usually 22 mm or less rather than more; interparietal with straight rather than angled suture along anterior face, and thus not pentagonal or five-sided; extensions of anterior wings of supraoccipital between interparietal, and bullae wedge-shaped rather than truncate; rostrum narrower."
From Mantooth & Best (2005): "Chaetodipus penicillatus is much larger than C. intermedius, a sympatric congener, and C. penicillatus also has a noticeable crest of hairs on tail and a prominent buffy lateral stripe (Williams et al. 1993). The interparietal of C. penicillatus is pentagonal with all angles somewhat rounded and does not contact mastoid bullae, whereas that of C. intermedius contacts mastoid bullae (Hall 1981). Pinnae of C. penicillatus have sparse hair and are relatively short and round compared to those of congeners."
References
Ceballos G, editor. 2014. Mammals of Mexico. Baltimore (MD, USA): Johns Hopkins University Press.
Hall ER. 1981. The mammals of North America. 2 vols. John Wiley and Sons, New York
Hoffmeister DF. 1986. Mammals of Arizona. Tucson (AZ, USA): University of Arizona Press.
Jameson EW, Peeters HJ. 2004. Mammals of California (No. 66). Berkeley (CA, USA): University of California Press.
Mantooth SJ, Best TL. 2005. Chaetodipus penicillatus. Mammalian Species (767): 1-7.
Osgood WH. 1900. Revision of the pocket mice of the genus Perognathus. North American Fauna 18:1-73.
Williams DF, Genoways HH, Braun JK. 1993. Taxonomy and systematics. Pp. 38-196 in Biology of the Heteromyidae (H. H. Genoways and J. H. Brown, eds.). Special Publication, The American Society of Mammalogists 10:1-719.
Woodhouse SW. 1852. Description of a new species of pouched rat, of the genus Perognathus, Wied. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 6:200-201.