Podomys floridanus
| Florida Deermouse
(Podomys floridanus) | |
|---|---|
| Range | |
 | |
| Taxonomic classification | |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Suborder: | Supramyomorpha |
| Infraorder: | Myomorphi |
| Superfamily: | Muroidea |
| Family: | Cricetidae |
| Subfamily: | Neotominae |
| Tribe: | Peromyscini |
| Genus: | Podomys |
| Binomial details | |
| Podomys floridanus (F. M. Chapman, 1889) | |
| Other resources | |
| Full taxonomic details at MDD | |
Description
From Jones & Layne (1993): "The pelage is soft and silky (Bangs, 1896). Color varies among populations, but, in general, adults are brownish or brownish-gray along the dorsum and bright ochraceous on the cheeks, shoulders, and lower sides. The feet and underparts are white, although some individuals have a tawny patch on the breast (Chapman, 1894; Layne, 1966). The tail is white below and brown above, but not as sharply bicolored as in P. gossypinus or P. polionotus. The dorsum of juveniles is a clear gray and the ventral parts grayish to white (Layne, 1966). Florida mice have a distinctive skunk-like odor (Layne, 1990)."
From Best & Hunt (2020): "The Florida deermouse has broad ears and prominent eyes. Color is usually brown to brownish-gray, with yellow-orange on cheeks, shoulders, and along the sides. The underside and feet are white. Some individuals have a yellowish-brown patch on the chest. The tail is indistinctly bicolored, and its length is about 80% of length of body. Juveniles are gray on the dorsum and white on the ventrum."
Museum type specimens
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Holotype: AMNH MS-1812. Podomys floridanus. Female. Gainsville, Alachua County, Florida. Collected 1 Ocotber 1888. Dorsal view. -
Holotype: AMNH MS-1812. Podomys floridanus. Female. Gainsville, Alachua County, Florida. Collected 1 Ocotber 1888. Ventral view. -
Holotype: AMNH MS-1812. Podomys floridanus. Female. Gainsville, Alachua County, Florida. Collected 1 Ocotber 1888. Lateral view.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida (Alachua Co.) | Jones & Layne (1993) | 166–199 (n=60) | 70–87 (n=60) | 21.5–25.0 (n=60) | 18–23 (n=60) | 20.3–31.7 (n=60) |
| Florida (Highlands, Levy, Putnam cos.) | Jones & Layne (1993) | 178–220 (n=30) | 80–101 (n=30) | 24–28 (n=30) | 16–21.5 (n=30) | 27.0–47.0 (n=60 from Levy County) |
Skull
The skull for the holotype (AMNH MS-1812) was lost and images are not available. Images from the NEON Biorepository are shown below.
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NEON06I9N. Podomys floridanus. Dorsal view of the skull. -
NEON06I9N. Podomys floridanus. Ventral view of the skull. -
NEON06I9N. Podomys floridanus. Lateral view of the skull. -
NEON06I9N. Podomys floridanus. Upper molars. -
NEON06I9N. Podomys floridanus. Upper incisors.
Similar species
From Jones and Layne (1993): "In general the greater size and distinctive color of P. floridanus serve to distinguish it from Peromyscus gossypinus and P. polionotus, which also occur in Florida. The Florida mouse has relatively large pinnae (~16 mm) and hindfeet (~24 mm), and the tail is approximately 80% of body length (Layne, 1970). In addition to relatively smaller ears, particularly in P. polionotus, P. gossypinus and P. polionotus lack the orange shading on the cheeks, shoulders, and lower sides that characterizes adult P. floridanus. Additionally, these Peromyscus typically have six well-defined plantar tubercles (occasionally only five in P. polionotus, according to Smith, 1968). Podomys usually has five small pads, although the number ranges from 3 to 6 (Layne, 1970; Stout and Keim, 1981); the hypothenar pad tends to be absent or reduced (Carleton, 1980). Other diagnostic characters include relatively hypsodont molars with small accessory tubercles (Osgood, 1909), an interorbital shelf, small vesicular glands, large ampullary and bulbourethral glands, and a reduced distribution of spines on the glans penis (Carleton, 1980; Linzey and Layne, 1969)."
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Florida Deermouse (Podomys floridanus) -
Cotton Deermouse (Peromyscus gossypinus). Note: the coloration of this species is somewhat variable. Go to the species page to see some of the variation. -
Oldfield Deermouse (Peromyscus polionotus) -
Arrow points to one of the plantar tubercules on sole of the hind foot of the Florida Deermouse (Podomys floridanus). This individual has four plantar tubercules on each hind foot.
References
Bangs O. 1896. The cotton mouse, Peromyscus gossypinus. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 10:119-125.
Best TL, Hunt JL. 2020. Mammals of the southeastern United States. Tuscaloosa (AL, USA): University Alabama Press.
Chapman FM. 1889. Preliminary descriptions of two apparently new species of the genus Hesperomys from Florida. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2:117.
Jones CA, Layne JN. 1993. Podomys floridanus. Mammalian Species (427): 1-5. https://doi.org/10.2307/3504239
Layne JN. 1966. Postnatal development and growth of Peromyscus floridanus. Growth 30:23-45.
Layne JN. 1990. The Florida mouse. Pp. 1-21, in Burrow associates of the gopher tortoise (C. K. Dodd, Jr., R. E. Ashton, Jr., R. Franz, and E. Wester, eds.). Eighth Annual Meeting, Gopher Tortoise Council, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, 134 pp.