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Reithrodontomys humulis

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Eastern Harvest Mouse
(Reithrodontomys humulis)
Range
Taxonomic classification
Order:Rodentia
Suborder:Supramyomorpha
Infraorder:Myomorphi
Superfamily:Muroidea
Family:Cricetidae
Subfamily:Neotominae
Tribe:Reithrodontomyini
Genus:Reithrodontomys
Subgenus:Reithrodontomys (subgenus)
Binomial details
Reithrodontomys humulis (Audubon & Bachman, 1841)

Description

From Stalling (1997): "Reithrodontomys humulis is a small mouse with upper parts a rich brown, sometimes faintly washed with gray, and a dark mid-dorsal stripe (usually present). Sides are paler than the dorsum, with an obvious lateral line usually present. Underparts are ash-colored and often have a cinnamon or pinkish suffusion. The slender, sparsely-furred tail is bicolored, fuscous to dark brown above and grayish white below. The soles of the hind feet have six tubercles (Hall, 1981). Reithrodontomys humulis has ears that are fuscous or fuscous-black in color and feet that are grayish-white (Howell, 1914). Immature specimens are more fuscous above than adults, with a slight admixture of brown."

From Best & Hunt (2020): "Eastern harvest mice are small mice with a tail less than 50% of total length. Dorsal pelage is brown or grayish-brown, usually with a dark mid-dorsal band. Sides are paler, often with a pinkish-orange lateral stripe. The underside is tan or ashy gray, sometimes with a brownish or pinkish wash. Feet are grayish-white. The tail is semiprehensile and indistinctly bicolored. Eyes are small and dark, and ears are dark. Upper incisors are deeply grooved."

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) 113 (99–126) (n=25) 50 (41–59) (n=25) 15 (13–19) (n=25) 11 (10–17) (n=15) 6.9 (4.7–8.6) (n=10)
Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland Webster et al. (1985) 99–152 43–73 5.8–11.7
Texas Schmidly & Bradley (2016) 126 61 16 10–15
Virginia Linzey (1998) 110–152 47–73 7–14


Skull

The upper incisors of Reithrodontomys are longitudinally grooved, unlike in members of the superficially similar Peromyscus and Mus musculus.

From Stalling (1997): In R. fulvescens the first primary fold of M3 is at least as long as the second primary fold, with each usually extending >50% across the crown. In R. humulis the primary fold is shorter and extends <50% across the crown (Hooper, 1952)... In addition, the labial fold and coalescence of folds on M1 and M2 differentiate R. humulis from R. megalotis and R. montanus.

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Similar species

From Stalling (1997): "R. humulis is notably smaller than R. fulvescens. R. megalotis differs from R. humulis by having a tail length equal to or longer than the length of head and body. The tail is more sharply bicolored in R. montanus than in R. humulis.

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.

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.

Stalling DT. 1997. Reithrodontomys humulis. Mammalian Species (565): 1-6.

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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