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Neotoma mexicana

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Mexican Woodrat
(Neotoma mexicana)
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 mexicana S. F. Baird, 1855

Description

For Colorado, from Armstrong et al. (2010): "The Mexican woodrat is a medium-sized woodrat. Dorsal color of animals from the foothills of the Front Range is usually dark gray, often washed with black. Animals from southwestern Colorado are more grayish buff on the dorsum, whereas those from the San Luis Valley and southeastern Colorado are grayish yellow to gray-buff. The sides are paler grayish buff. The underparts are whitish with all hairs gray at their bases. There is typically a dusky line or ring around the mouth. The short-haired tail is distinctly bicolored, blackish above and whitish gray below. The feet are white."

From Hoffmeister (1986): "A species of Neotoma with the hairs in the throat region plumbeous-colored at their bases (not white-throated), M1 with the antero-medial (=anterointernal) fold deep, upperparts of adults appear grizzled, underparts plumbeous or gray, dark-colored fur does not extend onto dorsum of hind foot."

Neotoma mexicana observed in Arizona by Rick Overson and Laura Steger.

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
Arizona (Chiricahua Mtns.) Hoffmeister (1986) males: 331 (n=2); females: 302–350 (n=4) males: 151 (n=2); females: 130–166 (n=4) males: 36 (n=2); females: 30–34 (n=4) males: 28 (n=2); females: 23.5–28 (n=4)
Arizona (Graham Mtns.) Hoffmeister (1986) males: 320–349 (n=5); females: 286 (n=3) males: 142–158 (n=5); females: 133 (n=3) males: 32–37 (n=5); females: 32–36 (n=3) males: 25–28 (n=5); females: 25–26 (n=3)
Arizona (Santa Catalina Mtns.) Hoffmeister (1986) males: 330–346 (n=3); females: 318 (n=1) males: 150–165 (n=3); females: 152 (n=1) males: 35–36 (n=3); females: 35 (n=1)
Arizona (vicinity Flagstaff and Williams) Hoffmeister (1986) males: 337–357 (n=7); females: 325–382 (n=8) males: 145–159 (n=7); females: 135–170 (n=8) males: 35–38 (n=7); females: 34–39 (n=8) males: 26–29 (n=7); females: 27–32 (n=8)
Arizona (White Mtns.) Hoffmeister (1986) males: 311–335 (n=4); females: 311–335 (n=7) males: 125–151 (n=4); females: 127–148 (n=7) males: 34–36 (n=4); females: 32–37 (n=7) males: 25–28 (n=4); females: 25–30 (n=7)
Colorado Armstrong et al. (2010) 297–380 124–178 29–38 26–28 149–255
not reported Ceballos (editor, 2014) 285–421 133–216 33–41 25–30 151–253
Texas Schmidly & Bradley (2016) 300 125 28 140–185


Skull

From Armstrong et al. (2010): "The skull is robust and often somewhat arched in the interorbital region. The maxillo-vomerine notch divides the nasal septum. The anterior palatal spine has a sharp tip. In most specimens the antero-internal fold of M1 is deep, extending more than halfway across the crown."

Placeholder image
Image(s) coming soon. We are currently imaging this skull.

References

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

Ceballos G, editor. 2014. Mammals of Mexico. Baltimore (MD, USA): Johns Hopkins University Press.

Hoffmeister DF. 1986. Mammals of Arizona. Tucson (AZ, USA): University of Arizona Press.

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

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