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 ...
to
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 ]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 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