The hispid pocket mouse (''Chaetodipus hispidus'') is a large pocket mouse native to the

Great Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...

region of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. It is a member of the genus ''Chaetodipus''.

Distribution

The hispid pocket mouse occurs across the

from southern

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

to central

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, and west from the

Missouri River The Missouri River is a river in the Central United States, Central and Mountain states, Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Moun ...

to the foot of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

. It is not found in far-eastern portions of the states

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

Description

This mouse is one of the largest pocket mice. Its

pelage A fur is a soft, thick growth of hair that covers the skin of almost all mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an ...

is bristley (''hispidus'' means "bristley"), yellowish with black hairs interspersed above. It has a distinct, buffy lateral line and white underparts.

Subspecies

There are four recognized subspecies: *''Chaetodipus hispidus hispidus'' Baird, 1858:421. Type locality "Charco Escondido (Tamaulipas), Mexico, (24 leagues W. of Matamoros.)" *''Chaetodipus hispidus paradoxus'' Merriam, 1889:24. Type locality "Trego County, Kansas." (''latirostris'' Rhodes, ''conditi'' Allen are synonyms.) *''Chaetodipus hispidus spilotus'' Merriam, 1889:25. Type locality "Gainesville, Cook (Cooke) County, Texas." (''maximus'' Elliot is a synonym). *''Chaetodipus hispidus zacatecae'' Osgood, 1900:45. Type locality "Valparaiso, Zacatecas, Mexico."

Behavior and habitat

Hispid pocket mice inhabit a variety of upland habitats, but are most abundant in areas with sandy soils and patches of bare ground. They are also found in areas with rocky, loamy soils. Hispid pocket mice are not found in rocky

prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

, and seem to avoid sand dunes and

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a ripar ...

zones. These mice prefer a vegetation mix of short- to mid-grasses, shrubs,

forbs A forb or phorb is a herbaceous flowering plant that is not a graminoid (grass, sedge, or rush). The term is used in botany and in vegetation ecology especially in relation to grasslands and understory. Typically, these are eudicots without wood ...

cacti A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, ...

and/or

yucca ''Yucca'' ( , YUCK-uh) is both the scientific name and common name for a genus native to North America from Panama to southern Canada. It contains 50 accepted species. In addition to yucca, they are also known as Adam's needle or Spanish-bayon ...

. Essentially granivores, the diet of the hispid pocket mouse consists primarily of seeds it selectively gathers, though these mice do consume some insects and leaves. Burrows are always dug in friable soil and have two to three entrances, often plugged. Unlike other pocket mice the hispid pocket mouse often leaves a conspicuous mound of earth about the burrow entrance (like the mounds of ''

pocket gopher Pocket gophers, commonly referred to simply as gophers, are burrowing rodents of the family Geomyidae. The roughly 41 speciesSearch results for "Geomyidae" on thASM Mammal Diversity Database are all endemic to North and Central America. They ar ...

s'', but significantly smaller). Hispid pocket mice are solitary.

Reproduction

Not much is known about the reproduction of this species. Adult males have been recorded with enlarged testes from March through October, and pregnant females have been trapped in July and August. The length of the breeding season suggests females can bear two or more litters a year.

References

*Bock, C. E. et al. 2002. Patterns of Rodent Abundance on Open-Space Grasslands in Relation to Suburban Edges. Conservation Biology 16:6, pp. 1653–1658 *Jones, J. N. et al. 1983. Mammals of the Northern Great Plains. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. *Jones, J. N., D. M. Armstrong, J. R. Choate. 1985. Guide to Mammals of the Plains States. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. *Jones, J. N., E. C. Brirney. 1988. Handbook of Mammals of the North-Central States. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. *Paulson, D. D. 1988. Chaetodipus hispidus. Mammalian Species No. 320, pp. 1–4 *Vander Wall, S. B. et al. Cheek pouch capacities and loading rates of heteromyid rodents.

Oecologia ''Oecologia'' is an international peer-reviewed English-language journal published by Springer since 1968 (some articles were published in German or French until 1976). The journal publishes original research in a range of topics related to plant ...

, Volume 113, Number 1 (December 1997), pp. 21–28 *Texas Tech University. The Mammals of Texas - Online Edition.Hispid Pocket Mouse (Chaetodipus hispidus)
/ref> Accessed on 2 April 2007. {{Taxonbar, from=Q167053 Chaetodipus Rodents of the United States Mammals described in 1858 Taxa named by Spencer Fullerton Baird