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Ochrotomys nuttalli

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Golden Mouse
(Ochrotomys nuttalli)
Range
Taxonomic classification
Order:Rodentia
Suborder:Supramyomorpha
Infraorder:Myomorphi
Superfamily:Muroidea
Family:Cricetidae
Subfamily:Neotominae
Tribe:Ochrotomyini
Genus:Ochrotomys
Binomial details
Ochrotomys nuttalli (Harlan, 1832)

Description

From Best & Hunt (2020): "The golden mouse is a medium-sized mouse with soft, dense dorsal pelage that is golden-yellowish-orange to yellowish-brown in adults and somewhat darker in juveniles. Ventral pelage is whitish-orange. The tail is indistinctly bicolored, semiprehensile and about 50% or slightly less than total length. Eyes and ears are prominent, and ears are sparsely haired."

From Webster et al. (1985): "This attractive mouse has soft, thick pelage that differs in color from that of other mice and rats. Adults are tawny or ocherous on the upper body and ears, and creamy white with an ocherous wash on the underparts and feet. The tail is faintly bicolored. The fur of young animals is slightly darker than that of adults. Golden mice in the Appalachian Mountains are duskier reddish brown in color and average larger in overall in size than those in the piedmont region of Virginia and the Carolinas; also, mice gradually increase in size from the piedmont through the the coastal plain."

Dark patch on rump is due to the removal of a hair sample.
Dark patch on rump is due to the removal of a hair sample.

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) 157 (140–190) (n=25) 71 (63–84) (n=25) 18 (16–19) (n=25) 16 (14–16) (n=13) 18.4 (14.3–21.4) (n=14)
Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland Webster et al. (1985) 140–190 68–95 13–27
Texas Schmidly & Bradley (2016) 176 78 19 15–25
Virginia Linzey (1998) 140–200 60–100 14


Similar species

From Webster et al. (1985): "The coloration of the golden mouse is similar to that of meadow and jumping mice, but those species have much longer tail than the golden mouse. Golden mice also may be confused with the various species of Peromyscus, but they differ from them in that the golden upper and paler lower colors lack a clear line of separation on the sides of the body.

References

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.

Harlan R. 1832. Description of a new species of quadruped of the genus Aroicola (A. nuttalli). The Monthly American Journal of Geology and Natural Science 1:446.

Linzey DW. 1998. The mammals of Virginia. McDonald & Woodward Publishing.

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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