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Neotoma floridana

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Eastern Woodrat
(Neotoma floridana)
Range
Taxonomic classification
Order:Rodentia
Suborder:Supramyomorpha
Infraorder:Myomorphi
Superfamily:Muroidea
Family:Cricetidae
Subfamily:Neotominae
Tribe:Neotomini
Genus:Neotoma
Subgenus:Neotoma (subgenus)
Binomial details
Neotoma floridana (Ord, 1818)

Description

From Best & Hunt (2020): "A medium-sized rodent with a long tail covered with short hairs. They look like very large deermice. Dorsal pelage is soft and brownish-gray sprinkled with black hairs. Ventral pelage is white, but during the breeding season yellowish discoloration on the ventrum may be caused be secretions from an abdominal musk gland. In adults, the worn pelage appears cinnamon-orange in late summer. The tail is sharply bicolored. Eyes are dark and bulging. Ears are large, rounded, and short-haired. Vibrissae are long and conspicuous. The front feet have four toes, the hind feet have five toes, and all bear well-developed claws."

From Webster et al. (1985): "The pelage is rather long and soft. The upper body is colored brownish gray with numerous black-tipped hairs, which produce a grizzled appearance; the fur is darkest at the midline, grading to buff on the sides. The underside and feet are white, there being a distinct line separating the white belly from the darker upper body. The tail is distinctly bicolored, dark brown above and white below. Adults in the summer are more brightly colored above, tending toward cinnamon. Vibrissae are long and conspicuous; the eyes are black, large, and somewhat bulging; and the ears are prominent and sparsely haired."

From Armstrong et al. (2010): "The eastern woodrat is a rather large rat with a relatively short, sparsely haired tail that is not scaly. The fur is relatively long, soft, and fine. The color is brownish gray washed lightly with black, paler on the sides. Hairs of the belly are whitish with lead gray roots. The throat and chest are white with individual hairs white to their bases. The tail is bicolored, white below and blackish brown above."

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
Alabama Best & Dusi (2014) 331 (230–392) (n=12) 158 (108–184) (n=12) 36 (33–39) (n=12) 27 (24–29) (n=9) 208.8 (149.3–251.2) (n=5)
Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland Webster et al. (1985) 340–430 160–200 217–333
Colorado Armstrong et al. (2010) 340–380 139–159 38–43 18–28 275–400
Nebraska Johnsgard (2020) 350–400 135–180 300–400
Texas Schmidly & Bradley (2016) 369 160 40 200–350


Skull

From Armstrong et al. (2010): "The skull is relatively long with a condylobasal length greater than 43 mm. The nasals are also long, usually more than 19 mm. The interorbital region is not strongly arched. The nasal septum is intact, lacking a maxillo-vomerine notch. The posterior margin of the palate is notched or concave."

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Similar species

From Best & Hunt (2020): "Compared to the Allegheny woodrat [Neotoma magister], the eastern woodrat usually has a forked anterior spine on its palate and no maxillovomerine notch. The most reliable way to tell the two species apart is by genetic analyses or by anatomical details of the skull because measurements overlap. Skulls of Allegheny woodrats posses a maxillovomerine notch on the posterior palate, and this notch rarely is present in eastern woodrats."

From Webster et al. (1985): "This rat bears superficial resemblance to the Norway rat [Rattus norvegicus], but the eastern woodrat has larger and more prominent eyes, a blunter snout, less coarse fur, and a more densely haired tail that lacks obvious scales."

References

Armstrong DM, Fitzgerald JP, Meaney CA. 2010. Mammals of Colorado, Second Edition. Denver (CO, USA): University Press of Colorado.

Best TL, Dusi JL. 2014. Mammals of Alabama (Vol. 4). Tuscaloosa (AL, USA): University Alabama Press.

Best TL, Hunt JL. 2020. Mammals of the southeastern United States. Tuscaloosa (AL, USA): University Alabama Press.

Johnsgard PA. 2020. Wildlife of Nebraska: a natural history. Lincoln (NE, USA): University of Nebraska Press.

Schmidly DJ, Bradley RD. 2016. The mammals of Texas. Austin (TX, USA): University of Texas Press.

Webster WD, Parnell JF, Biggs WC. 1985. Mammals of the Carolinas, Virginia, and Maryland. Chapel Hill (NC, USA): University of North Carolina Press.

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