The narrow-faced kangaroo rat (''Dipodomys venustus'') is one of almost 20 species of

kangaroo rat Kangaroo rats, small mostly nocturnal rodents of genus ''Dipodomys'', are native to arid areas of western North America. The common name derives from their bipedal form. They hop in a manner similar to the much larger kangaroo, but developed thi ...

s, a

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

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 ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Like all other heteromyids, the

dental formula Dentition pertains to the development of teeth and their arrangement in the mouth. In particular, it is the characteristic arrangement, kind, and number of teeth in a given species at a given age. That is, the number, type, and morpho-physiology ...

of ''Dipodomys venustus'' is . Narrow-faced kangaroo rats lives within

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant plant community, community found primarily in California, southern Oregon, and northern Baja California. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate (mild wet winters and hot dry summers) and infrequent, high-intens ...

, mixed chaparral, and on sandy soils with oak or pine. They are distributed along West-central California in the coastal mountains.Best, Troy L. “Dipodomys Venustus.” ''Mammalian Species'', no. 403, 1992, pp. 1–4. ''JSTOR'', JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3504315.Retrieved 3 December 2017. They have been divided into three subspecies: * ''

Dipodomys venustus venustus Kangaroo rats, small mostly nocturnal rodents of genus ''Dipodomys'', are native to arid areas of western North America. The common name derives from their bipedal form. They hop in a manner similar to the much larger kangaroo, but developed thi ...

'' ( Santa Cruz kangaroo rat), which inhabit the

Santa Cruz Mountains The Santa Cruz Mountains ( Mutsun Ohlone: Mak-sah-re-jah, "Sharp Ridged Mountain of the Eagle" or "People of the Eagle Mountain") are a mountain range in central and Northern California, United States, constituting a part of the Pacific Coast R ...

and Mount Hamilton range, the latter a central sub-range of the

Diablo Range The Diablo Range is a mountain range in the California Coast Ranges subdivision of the Pacific Coast Ranges in northern California, United States. It stretches from the eastern San Francisco Bay Area at its northern end to the Salinas Valley a ...

* '' Dipodomys venustus elephantinus'' ( Elephant-eared or big-eared kangaroo rat), which inhabit the Gabilan Range and southern

* '' Dipodomys venustus sanctiluciae'' (Santa Lucia kangaroo rat); which inhabit the

Santa Lucia Range The Santa Lucia Range (sæntə luˈsiːə) or Santa Lucia Mountains is a rugged mountain range in coastal Central California, running from Carmel southeast for to the Cuyama River in San Luis Obispo County. The range is never more than fro ...

References

Dipodomys Endemic fauna of California Endemic rodents of the United States Fauna of the California chaparral and woodlands Fauna of the San Francisco Bay Area Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Mammals described in 1904 Taxa named by Clinton Hart Merriam Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Heteromyidae-stub