Chaetodipus penicillatus
| Desert Pocket Mouse
(Chaetodipus penicillatus) | |
|---|---|
| Range | |
 | |
| Taxonomic classification | |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Suborder: | Supramyomorpha |
| Infraorder: | Castorimorphi |
| Family: | Heteromyidae |
| Subfamily: | Perognathinae |
| Genus: | Chaetodipus |
| Binomial details | |
| Chaetodipus penicillatus (Woodhouse, 1852) | |
| Other resources | |
| Full taxonomic details at MDD | |
Description
From Hoffmeister (1986): "Size medium to small; rump without spines or spine-like hairs; tail usually 10-20 mm longer than head-body; tail lightly pencillate; dorsal tail stripe slightly darker than rest of dorsum; dorsal coloration grayish or pinkish brown mixed with black and dark browns."
From Mantooth & Best (2005): "Chaetodipus penicillatus is a medium-sized heteromyid with a long, crested, mostly naked, tufted tail. Tail and tuft are dusky dorsally, and portion of tail proximal to tuft is white ventrally. Ventral pelage is yellowish brown to yellowish gray and dorsal pelage is white or buff with an obscure or absent lateral line (Hall 1981; Osgood 1900; Woodhouse 1852). Rump spines are absent."
From Jameson & Peeters (2004): "A medium-sized pocket mouse with rather coarse, but not spiny, yellow gray pelage. Its tail is faintly bicolored, often annulated (ringed), with a conspicuous tuft and crest. The heel of the hind foot is naked. The ears are relatively pointed."
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | Jameson & Peeters (2004) | 153–221 | 91–121 | 21–27 | 14–20 | |
| not reported | Ceballos (editor, 2014) | 162–216 | 83–129 | 22–27 | 7–10 | 16.5 |
| not reported | Mantooth & Best (2005) | males: 167.7 (n=20); females: 167.3 (n=20) | males: 91.1 (n=20); females: 91.5 (n=20) | males: 21.6 (n=20); females: 23.1 (n=20) | males: 8.2 (n=20); females: 8.5 (n=20) | 16.89 |
Skull
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Lateral view of the skull of Chaetodipus penicillatus. -
Dorsal view of the skull of Chaetodipus penicillatus. -
Ventral view of the skull of Chaetodipus penicillatus. -
Dorsal view of the lower jaw of Chaetodipus penicillatus. -
The upper incisors of Chaetodipus penicillatus are grooved. -
Upper molars of Chaetodipus penicillatus. -
Lower molars of Chaetodipus penicillatus. -
The interparietal of Chaetodipus penicillatus is pentagonal with all angles somewhat rounded and does not contact the mastoid bullae (Hall, 1981; Mantooth and Best, 2005).
Similar species
Comparison with Chaetodipus baileyi
From Hoffmeister (1986): "penicillatus (large specimens) is sometimes confused with and difficult to distinguish of baileyi. C. penicillatus in general is smaller than C. baileyi, with smaller body, shorter hind feet, and smaller skulls." Hoffmeister (1986) noted that characters useful for distinguishing C. penicillatus from C. baileyi are: hind foot usually 26 mm or less in C. penicillatus, whereas the hind foot is usually 27 mm or more in males in C. baileyi; interorbital breadth less than interparietal breadth in C. penicillatus, whereas in C. baileyi the interorbital width usually equal to or greater than interparietal width; the depth of the skull is usually 9.65 mm or less in C. penicillatus, whereas in baileyi the depth of the skull is 10.2 mm or more; the distance across maxillary toothrow (measured from the outside of right M1 to outside left M1) usually 4.9 mm or less, whereas in C. baileyi the distance across maxillary toothrow is usually 5.0 mm or more.
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Chaetodipus penicillatus -
Bailey's Pocket Mouse (Chaetodipus baileyi)
Comparison with Chaetodipus intermedius
From Hoffmeister (1986): "[Chaetodipus] intermedius differs from [Chaetodipus] penicillatus, the species with which it is most frequently confused, in the presence of spinelike hairs on the rump; hind foot usually 22 mm or less rather than more; interparietal with straight rather than angled suture along anterior face, and thus not pentagonal or five-sided; extensions of anterior wings of supraoccipital between interparietal, and bullae wedge-shaped rather than truncate; rostrum narrower."
From Mantooth & Best (2005): "Chaetodipus penicillatus is much larger than C. intermedius, a sympatric congener, and C. penicillatus also has a noticeable crest of hairs on tail and a prominent buffy lateral stripe (Williams et al. 1993). The interparietal of C. penicillatus is pentagonal with all angles somewhat rounded and does not contact mastoid bullae, whereas that of C. intermedius contacts mastoid bullae (Hall 1981). Pinnae of C. penicillatus have sparse hair and are relatively short and round compared to those of congeners."
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Chaetodipus penicillatus -
Rock Pocket Mouse (Chaetodipus intermedius)
In the field
References
Ceballos G, editor. 2014. Mammals of Mexico. Baltimore (MD, USA): Johns Hopkins University Press.
Hall ER. 1981. The mammals of North America. 2 vols. John Wiley and Sons, New York
Hoffmeister DF. 1986. Mammals of Arizona. Tucson (AZ, USA): University of Arizona Press.
Jameson EW, Peeters HJ. 2004. Mammals of California (No. 66). Berkeley (CA, USA): University of California Press.
Mantooth SJ, Best TL. 2005. Chaetodipus penicillatus. Mammalian Species (767): 1-7.
Osgood WH. 1900. Revision of the pocket mice of the genus Perognathus. North American Fauna 18:1-73.
Williams DF, Genoways HH, Braun JK. 1993. Taxonomy and systematics. Pp. 38-196 in Biology of the Heteromyidae (H. H. Genoways and J. H. Brown, eds.). Special Publication, The American Society of Mammalogists 10:1-719.
Woodhouse SW. 1852. Description of a new species of pouched rat, of the genus Perognathus, Wied. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 6:200-201.