Dipodomys venustus
Narrow-faced Kangaroo Rat
(Dipodomys venustus) | |
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Range | |
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Taxonomic classification | |
Order: | Rodentia |
Suborder: | Supramyomorpha |
Infraorder: | Castorimorphi |
Family: | Heteromyidae |
Subfamily: | Dipodomyinae |
Genus: | Dipodomys |
Binomial details | |
Dipodomys venustus (Merriam, 1904) |
Dipodomys elephantinus was once considered a distinct species, but is now considered a subspecies of Dipodomys venustus.
Description
From Best (1992): "Dipodomys venustus is a narrow-faced, five-toed kangaroo rat, with dark coloration (Grinnell, 1922). It is medium-sized for the genus (Best, in press). The nose is black, passing into a black band at the base of the whiskers. The top of the head, back, and thigh patches are dusky and finely grizzled with ochraceous, the ochraceous becoming more distinct on the sides. The ears are large and nearly black, with pale spots at the base and at the top of the fold. The ankle, sides of the heel, sole, and tail stripes are nearly black. The hairs of the rump form a black patch just in front of the basal white ring of the tail (Merriam, 1904). D. v. sanctiluciae is paler in color, the pale areas on the cheek and between the eye and ear are paler, there are more of the rather long white hairs on the inner surface of the pinna, and there is greater inflation of the mastoid bullae than in D. v. venustus (Grinnell, 1922)."
From Jameson & Peeters (2004): "A large, dark kangaroo rat. The dark ventral stripe is wider than the lateral white stripe in the terminal half of the tail. The hind foot has five toes. The ears are larger than in most members of the genus..."

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 | Best (1992) | males: 318.2 (n=65); females: 313.5 (n=73) | males: 192.9 (n=65); females: 190.7 (n=73) | males: 45.8 (n=65); females: 45.1 (n=73) | males: 18.6 (n=65); females: 18.2 (n=73) | males: 82.0; females: 87.7 (Grinnell, 1922) |
California | Jameson & Peeters (2004) | 293–332 | 175–203 | 44–47 | 15–16 | 66–74 |
California (subspecies elephantinus) | Jameson & Peeters (2004) | 305–336 | 183–210 | 44–50 | 16–18 | 81–97 |
Similar species
From Best (1992): "Compared with D. agilis, D. venustus has a much darker color, a slightly longer skull, a maxillary arch of the zygoma that is broader on the outer side with a pronounced outer angle (lacking in D. agilis), a weaker jugal, slightly longer and broader nasals, broader premaxillae, heavier incisors (Merriam, 1904), bolder facial markings, much larger ear, much longer tail, and a proportionally longer rostrum. In addition, the nasals average 15.6 mm in D. venustus compared with 14.3 mm in D. agilis (Grinnell, 1922) and the larger bullae of D. agilis give its skull a more triangular appearance in dorsal aspect than the skull of D. venustus (Boulware, 1943).... Compared with D. heermanni, the nasals and the premaxillae of D. venustus are broader, the outer angle of the maxillary arch is less developed, and the bullae project more posteriorly (Merriam, 1904). The most conspicuous differences are the darker coloration and the much larger ear of D. venustus (Grinnell, 1922)."
Skull characters
From Jameson & Peeters (2004): "The zygomatic arch has a rounded posterior margin."
References
Best TL. 1992. Dipodomys venustus. Mammalian Species (403): 1-4.
Boulware JT. 1943. Two new subspecies of kangaroo rats (genus Dipodomys) from southern California. University of California Publications in Zoology 46: 391-396.
Grinnell J. 1922. A geographical study of the kangaroo rats of California. University of California Publications in Zoology 24: 1-125.
Jameson EW, Peeters HJ. 2004. Mammals of California (No. 66). Berkeley (CA, USA): University of California Press.
Merriam CH. 1904. New and little known kangaroo rats of the genus Perodipus. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 17: 139-145.