Perognathus amplus

Arizona Pocket Mouse
(*Perognathus amplus*)
Arizona Pocket Mouse (Perognathus amplus)
Range
Taxonomic classification
Order:	Rodentia
Suborder:	Supramyomorpha
Infraorder:	Castorimorphi
Superfamily:	Geomyoidea
Family:	Heteromyidae
Subfamily:	Perognathinae
Genus:	Perognathus
Subgenus:	Perognathus (subgenus)
Binomial details
	Perognathus amplus Osgood, 1900
Other resources
	Full taxonomic details at MDD

The Arizona Pocket Mouse (Perognathus amplus) is a small pocket mouse that inhabits Mohave and Sonoran desertscrub and parts of the Great Basin desertsrub (Hoffmeister, 1986).

Description

From Ceballos (ed., 2014): "Perognathus amplus is a small-sized mouse. Coloration varies among subspecies but, in general, it is salmon-ochre on the back and yellowish-white on the abdomen; the orbital region is paler than the back (Hall, 1981)."

From Hoffmeister (1986): "Size small, but tail relatively long; characters of subgenus Perognathus; body averages about 70 mm; tail averages 110 to 120 percent of body length; hind foot averages 19.5 to 21 mm... color variable, dorsum usually an orangeish tan sprinkled with black but some almost black (on lava substrate); light-colored postauricular patch present but not especially conspicuous."

Museum specimens

Holotype: 212780. Perognathus amplus amplus. Adult male. Congress Junction, Yavapai County, Arizona. Collected 21 June 1916.

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
not reported	Ceballos (editor, 2014)	123–170	79–95	17–22	7–12	17–21

Skull

Holotype: 212780. Perognathus amplus amplus. Adult male. Congress Junction, Yavapai County, Arizona. Collected 21 June 1916. Dorsal view of the skull.
Holotype: 212780. Perognathus amplus amplus. Adult male. Congress Junction, Yavapai County, Arizona. Collected 21 June 1916. Dorsal view of the skull. Black arrows identify the interorbital width. The interparietal bone is colored yellow.
Holotype: 212780. Perognathus amplus amplus. Adult male. Congress Junction, Yavapai County, Arizona. Collected 21 June 1916. Ventral view of the skull.
Holotype: 212780. Perognathus amplus amplus. Adult male. Congress Junction, Yavapai County, Arizona. Collected 21 June 1916. Lateral view of the skull.
Holotype: 212780. Perognathus amplus amplus. Adult male. Congress Junction, Yavapai County, Arizona. Collected 21 June 1916. Dorsal view of the mandible.
Holotype: 212780. Perognathus amplus amplus. Adult male. Congress Junction, Yavapai County, Arizona. Collected 21 June 1916. Lateral view of the left mandible.
Holotype: 212780. Perognathus amplus amplus. Adult male. Upper molars.
Holotype: 212780. Perognathus amplus amplus. Adult male. Lower molars.

Similar species

Comparison with Perognathus longimembris

From Ceballos (ed., 2014): "P. amplus is closely related to P. longimembris. These species can be separated by the larger skull of P. amplus, and by its well-developed mastoid bones and small bullae (Hoffmeister, 1986). There are also external features that distinguish the two species (Williams et al., 1993)."

Holotype: 212780. Perognathus amplus amplus. Adult male. Congress Junction, Yavapai County, Arizona. Collected 21 June 1916. Dorsal view of the skull. Black arrows identify the interorbital width. The interparietal bone is colored yellow.
Holotype: 99828. Perognathus longimembris bangsi. Adult male. San Felipe Narrows, San Diego County, California. Collected 11 April 1892. Dorsal view of the skull. Black arrows identify the interorbital width. The interparietal bone is colored yellow.

Comparison with Perognathus flavus

From Best & Skupski (1994): "Compared with P. amplus, P. flavus has a non-penciled tail (Williams et al., 1993) that is shorter, and the tail always is shorter than length of head and body (Hoffmeister, 1986).

Holotype: 212780. Perognathus amplus amplus. Adult male. Congress Junction, Yavapai County, Arizona. Collected 21 June 1916.
Silky Pocket Mouse (Perognathus flavus)

References

Best TL, Skupski MP. 1994. Perognathus flavus. Mammalian Species (471):pp.1-10.

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

Hoffmeister DF. 1986. Mammals of Arizona. Tucson (AZ, USA): University of Arizona Press.

Osgood WH. 1900-09-20. Revision of the pocket mice of the genus Perognathus. North American Fauna 18:1-73.

Williams DF, Genoways HH, Braun JK. 1993. Taxonomy. 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.