The California pocket mouse (''Chaetodipus californicus'') is a species of nocturnal and primarily solitary

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are na ...

in the family

Heteromyidae Heteromyidae is a family of rodents consisting of kangaroo rats, kangaroo mice, pocket mice and spiny pocket mice. Most heteromyids live in complex burrows within the deserts and grasslands of western North America, though species within the gen ...

Distribution

''Chaetodipus californicus'' is native to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

in the western United States and northern

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

state in north-western Mexico. It is found in habitats, such as

California chaparral and woodlands The California chaparral and woodlands is a terrestrial ecoregion of southwestern Oregon, northern, central, and southern California (United States) and northwestern Baja California (Mexico), located on the west coast of North America. It is a ...

, in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

throughout the Southern

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

, Southern

California Coast Ranges The Coast Ranges of California span from Del Norte or Humboldt County, California, south to Santa Barbara County. The other three coastal California mountain ranges are the Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges and the Klamath Mountains. P ...

, and the

Transverse Ranges The Transverse Ranges are a group of mountain ranges of southern California, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region in North America. The Transverse Ranges begin at the southern end of the California Coast Ranges and lie within Santa B ...

; and in Southern California and northern Baja California in the

Peninsular Ranges The Peninsular Ranges (also called the Lower California province) are a group of mountain ranges that stretch from Southern California to the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula; they are part of the North American Coast Ranges, which ...

. Eight known subspecies of ''C. californicus'' exist throughout its distribution''.'' They are ''C. c. californicus'', ''C. c. femoralis'', ''C. c. dispar'', ''C. c. mesopolius'', ''C. c. ochrus'', ''C. c. bernandinus'', ''C. c. bensoni'', and ''C. c. merinensis''. They can be found around Berkeley in Alameda Co.; Dulzura, San Diego Co.; Carpenteria, Santa Barbara Co.; Sierra San Pedro Martir, Baja California; Santiago Springs, Kern Co.; San Bernandino Mountains in San Bernandino Co.; Soledad, Monterey Co.; and Indian Harbor, Monterey Co. The distribution boundaries for the Southern subspecies are less well known than the Northern ones. Despite their relatively widespread over the majority of central and southern California, the known habitat of the Californian pocket mouse is shrinking due to climate change and other human activities such as residential development.

Description

The dental formula of ''Chaetodipus californicus'' is teeth in total. Its fur is brown on top and tan underneath with distinct white hairs, or spines, near the rump. The tail is dark on top, light underneath and tufted at the end. Females and males are about the same size, showing no sexual dimorphism. ''C. californicus'' is often mistaken for ''C. fallax'' (

San Diego pocket mouse The San Diego pocket mouse (''Chaetodipus fallax'') is a rodent species in the family Heteromyidae. It occupies the northern region of Baja California near San Diego extending into Mexico. Description The San Diego pocket mouse occupies the no ...

) which shares some of the same habitat but has smaller and rounder ears. Its total tail length is 190–235 mm, tail length is 102–143 mm, and weight is 18-29 g.

Diet

The California pocket mouse is mainly a granivore, feeding mainly on seeds. However, it also eats insects and leaves. Like all members of the Family

, ''C. californicus'' has external cheek pouches which it uses to store seeds.

Distribution

Description

Diet

See also

References

Further reading