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Perognathus flavescens

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Plains Pocket Mouse
(Perognathus flavescens)
Range
Taxonomic classification
Order:Rodentia
Suborder:Supramyomorpha
Infraorder:Castorimorphi
Family:Heteromyidae
Subfamily:Perognathinae
Genus:Perognathus
Binomial details
Perognathus flavescens Merriam, 1889

Description

From Monk & Jones (1996): Perognathus flavescens is among the small to medium sized species of Perognathus. Races on the Great Plains are generally smaller than those of intermountain areas at similar latitudes. The ears are relatively small and the postauricular patches are smaller and less conspicuous than in some congeners (P. flavus, for example). The tail is relatively short (<100% length of head and body) and nonpenicillate (Williams, 1978, and citations therein). Pelage is soft, not spiny. There is considerable geographic variation in pelage color; several subspecies are based on such variation (Williams, 1978). In general, however, dorsal color ranges from dark ochraceous buff heavily suffused with blackish hairs to pale ochraceous lightly mixed with dusky hairs. The lateral line is dark ochraceous to pale yellowish; the undersides are white except that they are the same color as the lateral line, or nearly so, in dark-colored northeastern races (cockrumi and perniger). The tail is slightly darker above than ventrally. Mice from the White Sands area of New Mexico are nearly white to almost yellowish in dorsal color (Benson, 1933)."

From Armstrong et al. (2010): "The plains pocket mouse is pale buff to yellowish or reddish, with a variable dorsal wash of black hairs. The lateral line of buffy orange is generally less striking and the dorsal color usually is not as dark as that of the olive-backed pocket mouse [Perognathus fasciatus]. A buffy postauricular patch is often present. This patch is never as large as in the silky pocket mouse [Perognathus flavus], and the hair is coarser."

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
Colorado Armstrong et al. (2010) 123–145 52–71 16–19 6–8 7–12
Minnesota Hazard (1982) body length: 110–132 (n=48) 49–60 (n=48) 16–18 (n=48) 5–7 (n=48) males: 9.2; females: 6.9–11.5
Nebraska Johnsgard (2020) 114–130 52–65 7–12
North Dakota Seabloom et al. (2020) 122 60 17 6
not reported Ceballos (editor, 2014) 113–154 56–73 15–21 6.5 8–11
Texas Schmidly & Bradley (2016) 130 61 17 8–11


Skull characters

From Armstrong et al. (2010): "The auditory bullae typically meet anteriorly. As with the olive-backed pocket mouse [Perognathus fasciatus], the interparietal bone is about the same width as the interorbital breadth of the skull."

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Similar species

Perognathus flavescens can be separated from all Chaetodipus by its smooth pelage and ears that lack a lobed antitragus. It can also be separated from Perognathus mollipilosus by ears that lack a lobed antitragus. From Monk & Jones (1996): "The ears are relatively small and the postauricular patches are smaller and less conspicuous than in some congeners (P. flavus, for example)."

  • Perognathus flavescens
  • Perognathus flavus
  • Postauricular patch of Perognathus flavescens.
  • Postauricular patch of Perognathus flavus.
  • Perognathus mollipilosus
  • Lobed antitragus of Perognathus mollipilosus


Species Size Pelage appearance Postauricular patch Subaruicular spot Antitragus Tail bicolored Tail crest Tail tuft Rump spines Lateral lines Lateral line color
Perognathus fasciatus small to medium smooth present: buffy present; white absent indistinctly absent absent absent present bright buffy to yellowish buff
Perognathus flavescens small to medium smooth present; small, clear buff absent absent indistinctly absent absent absent present; clear buff dark ochraceous to pale yellowish
Perognathus flavus small smooth present; buff present; white or buff absent no absent absent absent present; may be indistinct, buff buff or ochraceous
Perognathus merriami small smooth present; clear buff present; white absent indistinctly absent absent absent faint

References

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

Benson SB. 1933. Concealing coloration among some desert rodents of the southwestern United States. University of California Publications in Zoology 40:1-7.

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

Hazard EB. 1982. The mammals of Minnesota. Minneapolis (MN, USA): University of Minnesota Press.

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

Merriam CH. 1889. Revision of the North American pocket mice. North American Fauna 1:1-36.

Monk RR, Jones JK. 1996. Perognathus flavescens. Mammalian Species (525):1-4.

Seabloom R, Hoganson JW, Jensen WF. 2020. The mammals of North Dakota. Fargo (ND, USA): North Dakota State University Press.

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

Williams DF. 1978. Systematics and ecogeographic variation of the Apache pocket mouse (Rodentia, Heteromyidae). Bulletin of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History 10:1-57.

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