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Neotoma fuscipes

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Dusky-footed Woodrat
(Neotoma fuscipes)
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 fuscipes S. F. Baird, 1858

Description

Feet are dark on top, hence its common name.

From Jameson & Peeters (2004): "A large wood rat with a grayish brown dorsum and a pale or white venter. The feet are brown at the base, with the distal half white. The tail is faintly bicolored and scantily haired. The ear pinnae are broad and moderately hairy."

Hind foot of Neotoma fuscipes showing the dark coloration of the feet. Individual was photographed in California by Sea-Kangaroo.

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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
California Jameson & Peeters (2004) 260–439 130–212 37–44 31–34 184–358
rangewide see Carraway & Verts (1991) 335–468 160–227 34–47 24–36 200–250 (Kofoid et al., 1935); 311.8 (Bailey, 1936); 186.7 (Lee, 1963)


Skull

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Similar species

From Carraway & Verts (1991): "N. fuscipes can be separated from Neotoma with which it is sympatric or parapatric by its grayish-brown dorsum, usually pale or white venter, sooty-colored pelage on top of the hind feet, and the faintly bicolored, scantly haired, terete tail covered with short, dark-sooty colored hairs (Howell, 1926; Jameson and Peeters, 1988). N. lepida has a ventral pelage composed of hairs gray at the base and white at the tip and a distinctly bicolored tail; N. cinerea has a pale gray dorsum and a long bushy tail; N. albigula has throat hairs white to the base and a bicolored tail (Jameson and Peeters, 1988). Neotoma fuscipes has a longer tail, hind foot, and ear than N. lepida, and a longer ear than N. albigula (Jameson and Peeters, 1988)."

References

Baird SF. 1857. Mammals. In Reports of Explorations and Surveys to Ascertain the Most Practicable and Economical Route for a Railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. Part 1. General Report upon the Zoology of the Several Pacific Railroad Routes, Volume 8, bk. 1. Washington, D.C., Beverly Tucker, 495.

Carraway LN, Verts BJ. 1991. Neotoma fuscipes. Mammalian Species (386): 1-10.

Howell AB. 1926. Anatomy of the woodrat: comparative anatomy of the subgenera of the American wood rat (genus Neotoma). Monographs of the American Society of Mammalogists 1:1-2.

Jameson EW, Peeters HJ. 2004. Mammals of California (No. 66). Berkeley (CA, USA): University of California Press.

Jameson EW, Peeters HJ. 1988. California mammals. Berkeley (CA, USA): University of California Press.

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