Plains pocket mouse
| Plains pocket mouse | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Heteromyidae |
| Genus: | Perognathus |
| Species: | P. flavescens |
| Binomial name | |
| Perognathus flavescens Merriam, 1889 | |
The plains pocket mouse (Perognathus flavescens) is a heteromyid rodent of North America.[2] It ranges from southwestern Minnesota and southeastern North Dakota to northern Texas east of the Rockies, and from northern Utah and Colorado to northern Chihuahua west of the Rockies.[1]
It has soft silky fur and grows to be 5 inches long, although nearly half of that is the tail.
They often live directly underneath Spanish bayonet or prickly pear plants. They are accustomed to sandy soil and eat mostly seeds, large and small grasses and small leaves of plants. Some food found in their cheek pouches are: seeds of needle grass (Stipa), bind weed, sandbur grass, a small bean (probably Astragulus), and sedge (Cyperus). Even those caught in grain fields usually have their pouches filled with weed seeds. Seeds of two species of pigeon grass, a few other grasses, and wild buckwheat have been found in their burrows.
Their breeding season is mainly July to August and the females tend to have 4 embryos at a time. Other information about this animal is scarce.
References
- 1 2 Linzey, A.V., Timm, R., Álvarez-Castañeda, S.T., Castro-Arellano, I. & Lacher, T. (2008). "Perognathus flavescens". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.1. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 2012-09-29.
- ↑ Patton, J.L. (2005). "Family Heteromyidae". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 857. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.