Perognathus flavescens
Plains Pocket Mouse
(Perognathus flavescens) | |
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Range | |
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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."
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arrow points to the location of the postauricular patch of Perognathus flavescens
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arrow points to the location of the subauricular patch of Perognathus flavescens
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 |
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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."
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)."
Species | Size | Pelage appearance | Postauricular patch | Subaruicular spot | Antitragus | Tail bicolored | Tail crest | Tail tuft | Rump spines | Lateral lines | Lateral line color |
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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.