Marsh Rice Rat
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The marsh rice rat (''Oryzomys palustris'') is a
semiaquatic In biology, being semi-aquatic refers to various macroorganisms that live regularly in both aquatic and terrestrial environments. When referring to animals, the term describes those that actively spend part of their daily time in water (in ...
North American
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
Cricetidae The Cricetidae are a family of rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. It includes true hamsters, voles, lemmings, muskrats, and New World rats and mice. At over 870 species, it is either the largest or second-largest family ...
. It usually occurs in
wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...
habitats, such as
swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...
s and
salt marsh A salt marsh, saltmarsh or salting, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. I ...
es. It is found mostly in the eastern and southern United States, from
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and
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 ...
south to
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
and northeasternmost
Tamaulipas Tamaulipas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas, is a state in Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 43 municipalities. It is located in nor ...
, Mexico; its range previously extended further west and north, where it may have been a
commensal Commensalism is a long-term biological interaction (symbiosis) in which members of one species gain benefits while those of the other species neither benefit nor are harmed. This is in contrast with mutualism, in which both organisms benefit f ...
in corn-cultivating communities. Weighing about , the marsh rice rat is a medium-sized rodent that resembles the common
black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
and
brown rat The brown rat (''Rattus norvegicus''), also known as the common rat, street rat, sewer rat, wharf rat, Hanover rat, Norway rat and Norwegian rat, is a widespread species of common rat. One of the largest Muroidea, muroids, it is a brown or grey ...
. The upperparts are generally gray-brown, but are reddish in many Florida populations. The feet show several specializations for life in the water. The skull is large and flattened, and is short at the front.
John Bachman John Bachman ( ; February 4, 1790 – February 24, 1874) was an American Lutheran minister, social activist and naturalist who collaborated with John James Audubon to produce ''Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America'' and whose writings, part ...
discovered the marsh rice rat in 1816, and it was formally described in 1837. Several
subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...
have been described since the 1890s, mainly from Florida, but disagreement exists over their validity. The
Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral island, coral cay archipelago off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami a ...
population is sometimes classified as a different species, the silver rice rat (''Oryzomys argentatus''). Data from the
mitochondrial A mitochondrion () is an organelle found in the cells of most eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi. Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is used ...
cytochrome ''b'' gene indicate a deep divergence between populations east of Mississippi and those further west, which suggests that the western populations may be recognized as a separate species, ''Oryzomys texensis''. The species is part of the genus '' Oryzomys'', which also includes several others occurring further south in Mexico, Central America, and northwestern South America, some of which have previously been regarded as subspecies of the marsh rice rat. One, '' Oryzomys couesi'', occurs with the marsh rice rat in Tamaulipas and southern
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
. The marsh rice rat is active during the night, makes nests of sedge and grass, and occasionally builds runways. Its diverse diet includes plants, fungi, and a variety of animals. Population densities are usually below 10 per ha (four per acre) and home ranges vary from 0.23 to 0.37 ha (0.57 to 0.91 acres), depending on sex and geography. Litters of generally three to five young are born after a pregnancy around 25 days, mainly during the summer. Newborns are helpless at birth, but are weaned after a few weeks. Several animals prey on the marsh rice rat, including the
barn owl The barn owls, owls in the genus '' Tyto'', are the most widely distributed genus of owls in the world. They are medium-sized owls with large heads and characteristic heart-shaped faces. They have long, strong legs with powerful talons. The ter ...
, and it usually lives for less than a year in the wild. It is infected by many different parasites and harbors a
hantavirus ''Orthohantavirus'' is a genus of viruses that includes all hantaviruses (family ''Hantaviridae'') that cause disease in humans. Orthohantaviruses, hereafter referred to as hantaviruses, are naturally found primarily in rodents. In general, each ...
that also infects humans. The species is not of conservation concern, but some populations are threatened.


Taxonomy

The marsh rice rat is classified as one of eight species in the genus '' Oryzomys'', which is distributed from the eastern
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 ...
(marsh rice rat) into northwestern
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
('' O. gorgasi'').Carleton and Arroyo-Cabrales, 2009, p. 106 ''Oryzomys'' previously included many other species, which were reclassified in various studies culminating in contributions by Marcelo Weksler and coworkers in 2006 that removed more than 40 species from the genus. All are placed in the tribe
Oryzomyini Oryzomyini is a tribe of rodents in the subfamily Sigmodontinae of the family Cricetidae. It includes about 120 species in about thirty genera,Weksler et al., 2006, table 1 distributed from the eastern United States to the southernmost parts of S ...
("rice rats"), a diverse assemblage of over 100 species, and on higher taxonomic levels in the subfamily
Sigmodontinae The rodent subfamily Sigmodontinae includes New World rats and mice, with at least 376 species. Many authorities include the Neotominae and Tylomyinae as part of a larger definition of Sigmodontinae. When those genera are included, the species ...
of the family
Cricetidae The Cricetidae are a family of rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. It includes true hamsters, voles, lemmings, muskrats, and New World rats and mice. At over 870 species, it is either the largest or second-largest family ...
, along with hundreds of other species of mainly small rodents, most of which occur in South and Central America. In the United States, the marsh rice rat is the only oryzomyine rodent except for '' Oryzomys couesi'' in a small area of southern Texas; the only other sigmodontines present are several species of cotton rats (''Sigmodon'') in the southern half of the country.


Early history

The marsh rice rat was discovered in 1816 in
South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...
by
John Bachman John Bachman ( ; February 4, 1790 – February 24, 1874) was an American Lutheran minister, social activist and naturalist who collaborated with John James Audubon to produce ''Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America'' and whose writings, part ...
.Chapman, 1893, p. 43 Bachman intended to describe the species as ''Arvicola oryzivora'', but sent a specimen to Richard Harlan and Charles Pickering at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia to confirm its identity.Audubon and Bachman, 1854, p. 216 Another specimen, from
New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
, was found in the academy's collection, and Harlan took it upon himself, against Pickering's wishes, to describe the new species as ''Mus palustris'', proclaiming it one of the few true rats of the United States. The specific name ''palustris'' is Latin for "marshy" and refers to the usual habitat of the species.Merritt, 1987, p. 173; Schwartz and Schwartz, 2001, p. 192 In 1854, in ''The quadrupeds of North America'', Bachman redescribed it as ''Arvicola oryzivora'', considering it more closely related to the
vole Voles are small rodents that are relatives of lemmings and hamsters, but with a stouter body; a longer, hairy tail; a slightly rounder head; smaller eyes and ears; and differently formed molars (high-crowned with angular cusps instead of lo ...
s then placed in the genus '' Arvicola'', and also recorded it from
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
and
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
. Three years later,
Spencer Fullerton Baird Spencer Fullerton Baird (; February 3, 1823 – August 19, 1887) was an American naturalist, ornithologist, ichthyologist, Herpetology, herpetologist, and museum curator. Baird was the first curator to be named at the Smithsonian Institution. He ...
argued that the referral of the species to ''Arvicola'' was erroneous and introduced a new generic name for the marsh rice rat, ''Oryzomys''.Baird, 1857, pp. 458, 482, 484; Goldman, 1918, p. 9 The name combines the Greek ''oryza'' "rice" and ''mys'' "mouse" and refers to the rat's habit of eating rice. At the time, ''Oryzomys'' was recognized either as a full genus or as a
subgenus In biology, a subgenus ( subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the ge ...
of the now-defunct genus '' Hesperomys'', but since the 1890s, it has been universally recognized as a genus distinct from ''Hesperomys'', with the marsh rice rat (''Oryzomys palustris'') as its
type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...
.


Species boundaries and subspecies

In the 1890s, several
subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...
of the marsh rice rat were described from the United States: ''O. p. natator'' from Florida in 1893, ''O. p. texensis'' from Texas in 1894, and ''O. p. coloratus'' from elsewhere in Florida in 1898.
Clinton Hart Merriam Clinton Hart Merriam (December 5, 1855 – March 19, 1942) was an American zoologist, mammalogist, ornithologist, entomologist, ecologist, ethnographer, geographer, natural history, naturalist and physician. He was commonly known as the "father o ...
recognized ''O. p. natator'' as a separate species in 1901 and described a subspecies of it, ''O. p. floridanus'', but considered ''O. p. texensis'' to be nearly identical to nominate ''O. p. palustris''. In his 1918 revision of North American ''Oryzomys'',
Edward Alphonso Goldman Edward Alphonso Goldman (July 7, 1873 – September 2, 1946) was an American field naturalist and mammalogist. He worked extensively in Mexico with Edward William Nelson and described and revised many groups of mammals. He was considered a leading ...
again recognized all these as a single species, ''Oryzomys palustris''. He distinguished four subspecies, which he said formed a "closely intergrading series"—''O. p. palustris'' from New Jersey to southeastern Mississippi and eastern Missouri; ''O. p. natator'' in central Florida; ''O. p. coloratus'' (including ''O. natator floridanus'' Merriam) in southern Florida; and ''O. p. texensis'' from western Mississippi and southeastern Kansas to eastern Texas. Two additional subspecies were described by William J. Hamilton in 1955 from southern Florida: ''O. p. planirostris'' from Pine Island and two miles (3 km) north of Fort Myers and ''O. p. sanibeli'' from Sanibel Island. Also in 1955, Claude W. Hibbard described a new species of ''Oryzomys'', ''O. fossilis'', from
Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...
deposits in
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 ...
, on the basis of small differences in characters of the tooth with living marsh rice rats. In 1965, Walter Dalquest demoted this species, later also found in Texas, to a subspecies, because it does not differ more from living marsh rice rats than the latter differ from each other.Dalquest, 1965, p. 70 Merriam and Goldman had recognized that a number of Central American species, including ''Oryzomys couesi'' and numerous forms with more limited distributions, are related to the marsh rice rat. ''O. couesi'' ranges north to southernmost Texas, where its distribution meets that of the marsh rice rat. In 1960, Raymond Hall argued that specimens from the contact zone were intermediate between the local forms of ''O. couesi'' and the marsh rice rat, and accordingly included the former in the marsh rice rat. While reporting on the ecology of Texan ''O. couesi'' in 1979, Benson and Gehlbach noted that populations of ''O. couesi'' and the marsh rice rat there were in fact distinct, with the latter being smaller and less brown and more gray in color; their
karyotype A karyotype is the general appearance of the complete set of chromosomes in the cells of a species or in an individual organism, mainly including their sizes, numbers, and shapes. Karyotyping is the process by which a karyotype is discerned by de ...
s were also distinct. Since then, the two have generally been retained as distinct species, as supported by further research; a 1994 study even found the two to occur at some of the same places (in sympatry) in southern Texas and nearby
Tamaulipas Tamaulipas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas, is a state in Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 43 municipalities. It is located in nor ...
, Mexico. In 1973, rice rats were discovered at Cudjoe Key in the
Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral island, coral cay archipelago off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami a ...
, and in 1978 Spitzer and Lazell described this population as a new species, ''Oryzomys argentatus''.Spitzer and Lazell, 1978, p. 787 The status of this form—either a distinct speciesGoodyear, 1991, p. 423 or not even subspecifically distinct from ''O. palustris natator''Humphrey and Setzer, 1989, p. 557—has remained controversial since; the 2005 third edition of ''
Mammal Species of the World ''Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference'' is a standard reference work in mammalogy giving descriptions and Bibliographic database, bibliographic data for the known species of mammals. It is now in its third edition, ...
'' does not recognize ''O. argentatus'' as a separate species, but acknowledges a need for further research.Musser and Carleton, 2005, p. 1153 A 2005 study using
microsatellite A microsatellite is a tract of repetitive DNA in which certain Sequence motif, DNA motifs (ranging in length from one to six or more base pairs) are repeated, typically 5–50 times. Microsatellites occur at thousands of locations within an organ ...
DNA found that Florida Keys rice rats exhibit low genetic variation and are significantly different from
Everglades The Everglades is a natural region of flooded grasslands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orlando with the K ...
rice rats; the study concluded in favor of classifying the Keys rice rat as a "distinct vertebrate population".Wang et al., 2005, p. 575 This population probably diverged from mainland rice rats about 2000 years ago.Wang et al., 2005, p. 581 Among the described subspecies, a 1989 morphometrical study by Humphrey and Setzer separated only two—''O. p. natator'' from much of Florida (including ''O. p. coloratus'', ''O. p. planirostris'', ''O. p. sanibeli'', and ''O. p. floridanus'', as well as ''O. p. argentatus'') and ''O. p. palustris'' from the rest of the range (including ''O. p. texensis''). However, Whitaker and Hamilton in their 1998 book on the ''Mammals of the Eastern United States'' recognized ''O. p. planirostris'' and ''O. p. sanibeli'' as separate subspecies, but merged all others into ''O. p. palustris'', and placed ''O. argentatus'' as a separate species; their classification was based on their emphasis of overwater gaps as agents of biological diversification and a critique of shortcomings in Humphrey and Setzer's study, not on a reanalysis of the data. In 2010, Delton Hanson and colleagues published a study of the relationships among populations of ''Oryzomys'' on the basis of data from three genes—the
mitochondrial A mitochondrion () is an organelle found in the cells of most eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi. Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is used ...
gene cytochrome ''b'' (''Cytb'') and two
nuclear Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics * Nuclear space *Nuclear ...
markers,
exon An exon is any part of a gene that will form a part of the final mature RNA produced by that gene after introns have been removed by RNA splicing. The term ''exon'' refers to both the DNA sequence within a gene and to the corresponding sequence ...
1 of the interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein gene (''Rbp3'') and
intron An intron is any nucleotide sequence within a gene that is not expressed or operative in the final RNA product. The word ''intron'' is derived from the term ''intragenic region'', i.e., a region inside a gene."The notion of the cistron .e., gen ...
2 of
alcohol dehydrogenase Alcohol dehydrogenases (ADH) () are a group of dehydrogenase enzymes that occur in many organisms and facilitate the interconversion between alcohols and aldehydes or ketones with the reduction of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) to N ...
gene 1 (''Adh1-I2'').Hanson et al., 2010, p. 337 The ''Cytb'' data placed all marsh rice rats studied sister to a
clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...
containing various populations of ''O. couesi''; the mean genetic distance between the two groups was 11.30%. The marsh rice rats fell into two main groups, differing on average by 6.05%, one containing animals from Mississippi, southwestern Tennessee, and further west, and the other including specimens from Alabama and further east. Within the eastern group, variation was only about 0.65%, though examples of the putative subspecies ''O. p. palustris'', ''O. p. coloratus'', ''O. p. sanibeli'', and ''O. p. planirostris'' were all included. Data from both of the slower-evolving nuclear markers ''Rbp3'' and ''Adh1-I2'' also placed examples of ''Oryzomys'' in two main clades, but did not recover the western and eastern groups of the marsh rice rat as separate clades. In addition, ''Adh1-I2'' placed a Costa Rican population within the marsh rice rat clade and some other southern ''Oryzomys'' specimens closer to the marsh rice rat than to the ''O. couesi'' group. The combined data supported the western and eastern clades within the marsh rice rat and placed the Costa Rican population marginally closer to the marsh rice rat than to ''O. couesi''. Using the genetic species concept, the authors suggested that the western populations of the marsh rice rat be recognized as a separate species, ''Oryzomys texensis''. They recommended further research in the Mississippi–Alabama–Tennessee region, where the ranges of the two meet.Hanson et al., 2010, p. 342


Common names

Many
common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...
s have been proposed for the marsh rice rat. Early describers used "rice meadow-mouse" and "rice-field mouse"Baird, 1857, p. 482 and in the early 1900s, name such as "rice rat", "marsh mouse", and "swamp rice rat" came into use. Some of the subspecies received their own common names, such as "Florida marsh mouse",Stone and Cram, 1903, p. 130 "swimming rice rat", and "Central Florida rice rat" for ''O. p. natator'';Goldman, 1918, p. 25 "Bangs' marsh mouse", "Cape Sable rice rat",Eliot, 1905, p. 181 and "Everglades rice rat" for ''O. p. coloratus'';Goldman, 1918, p. 26 and "Texas rice rat" for ''O. p. texensis''.Goldman, 1918, p. 27 The species is now usually known as the "marsh rice rat", although "marsh oryzomys" has also been in recent use. The Florida Keys form (''O. p. argentatus'') is known as the "silver rice rat".


Description

The marsh rice rat is a medium-sized rodent that looks much like the common
black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
and
brown rat The brown rat (''Rattus norvegicus''), also known as the common rat, street rat, sewer rat, wharf rat, Hanover rat, Norway rat and Norwegian rat, is a widespread species of common rat. One of the largest Muroidea, muroids, it is a brown or grey ...
s, but has greater differences in color between the upper- and underparts. The fur is thick and short. The upperparts are generally gray to grayish brown, with the head a bit lighter, and are sharply delimited from the underparts, which are off-white, as are the feet. It has small
cheek pouch Cheek pouches are pockets on both sides of the head of some mammals between the jaw and the cheek. They can be found on mammals including the platypus, some rodents, and most monkeys, as well as the marsupial koala. The cheek pouches of chipmunk ...
es. The ears are about the same color as the upperparts, but a patch of light hairs is in front of them. The tail is dark brown above and may be paler below. The
guard hair Guard hair or overhair is the outer layer of hair of most mammals, which overlay the fur. Guard hairs are long and coarse and protect the rest of the pelage (fur) from abrasion and frequently from moisture. They are visible on the surface of the ...
s are long and have unpigmented, silvery tips. When rice rats swim, air is trapped in the fur, which increases buoyancy and reduces heat loss. As in most other oryzomyines, females have eight mammae.Carleton and Musser, 1989, p. 23 The fore feet have four and the hind feet five digits. On the fore feet, the ungual tufts (tufts of hair on the digits) are absent.Weksler, 2006, p. 23 The hind feet are broad and have a short fifth digit. Many of the pads are reduced, as are the ungual tufts, but small interdigital webs are present. The Florida Keys form, ''P. o. argentatus'', has even more reduced ungual tufts. Many of these traits are common adaptations to life in the water in oryzomyines. Some geographic variation in fur color occurs; western populations (''P. o. texensis'') are lighter than those from the east ( nominate ''P. o. palustris''), and Florida populations are generally more tawny or reddish than either, with those from southern Florida (''P. o. coloratus'') being brighter than those from the center of the state (''P. o. natator''). The Florida Keys form (''P. o. argentatus'') is silvery,Kays and Wilson, 2000, p. 108 and the two other Florida forms—''P. o. planirostris'' and ''P. o. sanibeli''—lack the reddish tones of mainland Florida populations and are instead grayish, resembling ''P. o. planirostris'', or brownish (''P. o. sanibeli'').Humphrey and Setzer, 1989, p. 558 In 1989, Humphrey and Setzer reviewed variation in color among Florida populations. They found ''P. o. argentatus'' to be substantially lighter and ''P. o. planirostris'' and ''P. o. sanibeli'' to be somewhat darker than mainland populations, and ''P. o. argentatus'' to have a less yellow fur, but found no significant differences in redness. Substantial variation within populations also was found. Total length is , tail length , hind foot length , and body mass , with males slightly larger than females. The largest individuals occur in Florida and along the
Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South or the South Coast, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Tex ...
east of the Mississippi River delta.Goldman, 1918, p. 22 The
stomach The stomach is a muscular, hollow organ in the upper gastrointestinal tract of Human, humans and many other animals, including several invertebrates. The Ancient Greek name for the stomach is ''gaster'' which is used as ''gastric'' in medical t ...
has the characteristic pattern of sigmodontines ( unilocular-hemiglandular); it is not split in two chambers by an incisura angularis and the front part (antrum) is covered by a glandular epithelium. The gall bladder is absent, a
synapomorphy In phylogenetics, an apomorphy (or derived trait) is a novel Phenotypic trait, character or character state that has evolution, evolved from its ancestral form (or Plesiomorphy and symplesiomorphy, plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy sh ...
(shared-derived character) of Oryzomyini. The
karyotype A karyotype is the general appearance of the complete set of chromosomes in the cells of a species or in an individual organism, mainly including their sizes, numbers, and shapes. Karyotyping is the process by which a karyotype is discerned by de ...
includes 56 chromosomes and a fundamental number of 60 chromosomal arms (2n = 56, FN = 60). The form of the
sex chromosome Sex chromosomes (also referred to as allosomes, heterotypical chromosome, gonosomes, heterochromosomes, or idiochromosomes) are chromosomes that carry the genes that determine the sex of an individual. The human sex chromosomes are a typical pair ...
s has been used to distinguish the marsh rice rat from ''Oryzomys couesi'', but may be too variable among ''Oryzomys'' species to be useful in differentiating them.Hershkovitz, 1987, p. 154 X chromosome inactivation occurs in the marsh rice rat, though the animal lacks LINE-1
retrotransposons Retrotransposons (also called Class I transposable elements) are transposable element, mobile elements which move in the host genome by converting their transcribed RNA into DNA through reverse transcription. Thus, they differ from Class II trans ...
, which have been suggested as components of the inactivation process. Mutants with fused or additional molars and with light fur have been recorded in laboratory colonies;Wolfe, 1982, p. 4 the abnormal molars are apparently the result of a single
autosomal recessive In genetics, dominance is the phenomenon of one variant (allele) of a gene on a chromosome masking or overriding the Phenotype, effect of a different variant of the same gene on Homologous chromosome, the other copy of the chromosome. The firs ...
mutation. At about 50%,
hematocrit The hematocrit () (Ht or HCT), also known by several other names, is the volume percentage (vol%) of red blood cells (RBCs) in blood, measured as part of a blood test. The measurement depends on the number and size of red blood cells. It is nor ...
(the proportion of red blood cells in the blood) is high in the marsh rice rat compared to other rodents; this may be an adaptation that enables the rice rat to increase oxygen capacity while swimming under water.


Male reproductive anatomy

The
glans penis In male human anatomy, the glans penis or penile glans, commonly referred to as the glans, (; from Latin ''glans'' meaning "acorn") is the bulbous structure at the Anatomical terms of location#Proximal and distal, distal end of the human penis ...
is long and robust,Hooper and Musser, 1964, p. 13 averaging long and broad, and the
baculum The baculum (: bacula), also known as the penis bone, penile bone, ''os penis'', ''os genitale'', or ''os priapi'', is a bone in the penis of many placental mammals. It is not present in humans, but is present in the penises of some primates, ...
(penis bone) is long. As is characteristic of the Sigmodontinae, the marsh rice rat has a complex penis, with the distal (far) end of the baculum ending in three digits. The central digit is notably larger than those at the sides. The outer surface of the penis is mostly covered by small spines, but a broad band of nonspinous tissue is seen. The papilla (nipple-like projection) on the dorsal (upper) side of the penis is covered with small spines, a character the marsh rice rat shares only with '' Oligoryzomys'' and ''Oryzomys couesi'' among oryzomyines examined. On the urethral process, located in the crater at the end of the penis, a fleshy process (the subapical lobule) is present; it is absent in all other oryzomyines with studied penes except ''O. couesi'' and '' Holochilus brasiliensis''. The baculum is deeper than it is wide. Some features of the accessory glands in the male genital region vary among oryzomyines. In the marsh rice rat, a single pair of preputial glands is present at the penis. As is usual for sigmodontines, two pairs of
ventral Standard anatomical terms of location are used to describe unambiguously the anatomy of humans and other animals. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...
prostate The prostate is an male accessory gland, accessory gland of the male reproductive system and a muscle-driven mechanical switch between urination and ejaculation. It is found in all male mammals. It differs between species anatomically, chemica ...
glands and a single pair of
anterior Standard anatomical terms of location are used to describe unambiguously the anatomy of humans and other animals. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position pro ...
and
dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage The fus ...
prostate glands exist. Part of the end of the vesicular gland is irregularly folded, not smooth as in most oryzomyines.


Skull

The marsh rice rat has a large, flattened skullWolfe, 1982, p. 1 with a short and broad rostrum. The
nasal Nasal is an adjective referring to the nose, part of human or animal anatomy. It may also be shorthand for the following uses in combination: * With reference to the human nose: ** Nasal administration, a method of pharmaceutical drug delivery * ...
and premaxillary bones extend back beyond the point where the lacrimal, frontal, and maxillary bones meet. In ''P. o. planirostris'', the rostrum is flatter than in mainland Florida forms, in which it is more convex, and the nasals are said to be relatively longer in ''P. o. argentatus''.Spitzer and Lazell, 1978, p. 788 The zygomatic plate, the flattened front part of the
zygomatic arch In anatomy, the zygomatic arch (colloquially known as the cheek bone), is a part of the skull formed by the zygomatic process of temporal bone, zygomatic process of the temporal bone (a bone extending forward from the side of the skull, over the ...
(cheekbone), is broad and develops a notch at its front end. The arches themselves are robust and contain small but distinct
jugal bone The jugal is a skull bone found in most reptiles, amphibians and birds. In mammals, the jugal is often called the malar or zygomatic bone, zygomatic. It is connected to the quadratojugal and maxilla, as well as other bones, which may vary by spe ...
s. The sphenopalatine foramen, an opening in the side of the skull above the molars, is large; it is much smaller in ''O. couesi''. The narrowest part of the region between the eyes is towards the front and the edges are lined by prominent shelves. The marsh rice rat has a narrow braincase lined by prominent ridges and a narrow interparietal bone. According to Goldman, Florida animals (''P. o. coloratus'' and ''P. o. natator'') generally have the largest and broadest skulls, and the western specimen (''P. o. texensis'') has a somewhat smaller and narrower skull than those from the east outside Florida (''P. o. palustris''). In ''P. o. argentatus'', the skull is also relatively narrow. The incisive foramina, openings in the front part of the
palate The palate () is the roof of the mouth in humans and other mammals. It separates the oral cavity from the nasal cavity. A similar structure is found in crocodilians, but in most other tetrapods, the oral and nasal cavities are not truly sep ...
, reach backward between the molars. The palate is long, extending substantially beyond the third molars. The back part, near the third molars, is usually perforated by prominent posterolateral palatal pits, which are recessed into fossae (depressions). The mesopterygoid fossa, the gap behind the end of the palate, is perforated by sphenopalatine vacuities, which are set far to the front. The condition of the
arteries An artery () is a blood vessel in humans and most other animals that takes oxygenated blood away from the heart in the systemic circulation to one or more parts of the body. Exceptions that carry deoxygenated blood are the pulmonary arteries in ...
in the head is highly derived. The subsquamosal fenestra, an opening in the back part of the skull determined by the shape of the squamosal bone, is present. The squamosal lacks a suspensory process that contacts the tegmen tympani, the roof of the
tympanic cavity The tympanic cavity is a small cavity surrounding the bones of the middle ear. Within it sit the ossicles, three small bones that transmit vibrations used in the detection of sound. Structure On its lateral surface, it abuts the external audit ...
, a defining character of oryzomyines. Some openings occur in the mastoid bone. In the
mandible In jawed vertebrates, the mandible (from the Latin ''mandibula'', 'for chewing'), lower jaw, or jawbone is a bone that makes up the lowerand typically more mobilecomponent of the mouth (the upper jaw being known as the maxilla). The jawbone i ...
, the
mental foramen The mental foramen is one of two foramina (openings) located on the anterior surface of the mandible. It is part of the mandibular canal. It transmits the terminal branches of the inferior alveolar nerve and the mental vessels. Structure Th ...
, an opening just before the first molar, opens sidewards, not upwards as in a few other oryzomyines. The upper and lower masseteric ridges, which anchor some of the chewing muscles, join at a point below the first molar and do not extend forward beyond that point.Weksler, 2006, p. 42 The capsular process, a raising of the bone of the back of the mandible that houses the back end of the
incisor Incisors (from Latin ''incidere'', "to cut") are the front teeth present in most mammals. They are located in the premaxilla above and on the mandible below. Humans have a total of eight (two on each side, top and bottom). Opossums have 18, wher ...
, is present, but not as large as in ''O. couesi''.


Teeth

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 ...
is (one upper and one lower incisor and three upper and three lower
molars The molars or molar teeth are large, flat tooth, teeth at the back of the mouth. They are more developed in mammal, mammals. They are used primarily to comminution, grind food during mastication, chewing. The name ''molar'' derives from Latin, '' ...
),Whitaker and Hamilton, 1998, p. 279 as usual in muroid rodents. The upper incisors are well developed and strongly opisthodont, with the chewing edge located behind the vertical plane of the teeth.Carleton and Musser, 1989, p. 37 The molars are bunodont, with the cusps higher than the connecting crests, and brachydont, low-crowned, as in most other oryzomyines. Many accessory crests, including the mesoloph on the upper molars and the mesolophid on the lower molars, are present, another trait the marsh rice rat shares with most but not all other oryzomyines. The flexi and flexids (valleys between the cusps and crests) at the labial (outer) side of the molars are closed by cingula (ridges). The upper molars have two longitudinal rows of cusps, not three as in the black and brown rats. The first and second upper molars are oval in form and the flexi do not extend to the midline of the molars.Weksler, 2006, p. 44 The anterocone, the front cusp of the upper first molar, is not divided in two by an indentation at its front ( anteromedian flexus), but does display a hollow in the middle, the anteromedian fossette, which divides it into separate cuspules at the labial and lingual (inner) sides of the molar. A crest, the anteroloph, is present behind the labial cuspule, but in older animals, the cusps and the crest are united into a single structure by wear. In the third upper molar, the cusps at the back are reduced and scarcely distinguishable. As in most oryzomyines, the upper molars all have one root on the inner (lingual) side and two on the outer (labial) side; in addition, the first upper molar usually has another small labial root. The first lower molar is rounded at the front end and the labial and lingual conules of the anteroconid, the frontmost cusp, are barely distinct. The second lower molar is elongated and has a crest, the anterolophid, before the two cusps that form the front edge of the molar in some other oryzomyines, the protoconid and metaconid. A distinct ridge ( anterolabial cingulum) is at the outer front (anterolabial) edge of the molar, before the protoconid. The lower third molar is about as long as the second and also has an anterolophid, albeit a less well-defined one. The first lower molar has large roots at the front and back of the tooth and usually one or two smaller ones in between, at the labial and lingual side. The second and third lowers molars have either two roots, one labial and one lingual, or only one at the front, and another large root at the back.


Postcranial skeleton

As usual in oryzomyines, 12 ribs are present. The first rib articulates with both the last cervical (neck) and first
thoracic The thorax (: thoraces or thoraxes) or chest is a part of the anatomy of mammals and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main ...
(chest) vertebrae, a synapomorphy of the Sigmodontinae. The anapophyses, processes at the back of vertebrae, are absent from the fifth
lumbar In tetrapod anatomy, lumbar is an adjective that means of or pertaining to the abdominal segment of the torso, between the diaphragm (anatomy), diaphragm and the sacrum. Naming and location The lumbar region is sometimes referred to as the lowe ...
. Between the second and third caudal vertebrae, hemal arches (small bones) are present with a spinous back border. The
entepicondylar foramen The entepicondylar foramen is an opening in the distal (far) end of the humerus (upper arm bone) present in some mammals. It is often present in primitive placentals, such as the enigmatic Madagascan '' Plesiorycteropus''. In most Neotominae and a ...
is absent, as in all members of the Sigmodontinae; if present, as in some other rodents, this foramen perforates the distal end of the
humerus The humerus (; : humeri) is a long bone in the arm that runs from the shoulder to the elbow. It connects the scapula and the two bones of the lower arm, the radius (bone), radius and ulna, and consists of three sections. The humeral upper extrem ...
.


Physiology

In poor conditions, the weight of the
adrenal gland The adrenal glands (also known as suprarenal glands) are endocrine glands that produce a variety of hormones including adrenaline and the steroids aldosterone and cortisol. They are found above the kidneys. Each gland has an outer adrenal corte ...
may increase up to 200%,Wolfe, 1982, p. 2 and rice rats are unable to conserve water well when
dehydrated In physiology, dehydration is a lack of total body water that disrupts Metabolism, metabolic processes. It occurs when free water loss exceeds intake, often resulting from excessive sweating, health conditions, or inadequate consumption of wate ...
,Stalling and Haynes, 1982, p. 301 and in water contaminated with oil, they swim less and their mortality increases. The median amount of radiation needed to kill a marsh rice rat is 5.25  Gy and the lethal dose of
potassium cyanide Potassium cyanide is a compound with the formula KCN. It is a colorless salt, similar in appearance to sugar, that is highly soluble in water. Most KCN is used in gold mining, organic synthesis, and electroplating. Smaller applications include ...
is 7.20 mg/kg; both values are relatively low for cricetid rodents. In one study, wild rice rats in radioactively contaminated areas did not show signs of disease. Exposure to more daylight and higher food availability cause increased development of the
gonad A gonad, sex gland, or reproductive gland is a Heterocrine gland, mixed gland and sex organ that produces the gametes and sex hormones of an organism. Female reproductive cells are egg cells, and male reproductive cells are sperm. The male gon ...
s in both adult and juvenile rice rats. When the
pineal gland The pineal gland (also known as the pineal body or epiphysis cerebri) is a small endocrine gland in the brain of most vertebrates. It produces melatonin, a serotonin-derived hormone, which modulates sleep, sleep patterns following the diurnal c ...
is removed or
melatonin Melatonin, an indoleamine, is a natural compound produced by various organisms, including bacteria and eukaryotes. Its discovery in 1958 by Aaron B. Lerner and colleagues stemmed from the isolation of a substance from the pineal gland of cow ...
is administered in male rice rats, the testes are reduced and tend to regress into the body.


Distribution and habitat

The marsh rice rat currently occurs in much of the eastern and southern United States, northeast to southern New Jersey, and south to southeastern Texas and far northeastern
Tamaulipas Tamaulipas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas, is a state in Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 43 municipalities. It is located in nor ...
, Mexico. The northernmost records in the interior United States are in eastern
Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...
, southeastern
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 ...
, southern
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 ...
and
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
, and the southern half of
Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
, but the species is absent in much of the
Appalachia Appalachia ( ) is a geographic region located in the Appalachian Mountains#Regions, central and southern sections of the Appalachian Mountains in the east of North America. In the north, its boundaries stretch from the western Catskill Mountai ...
ns. Fossils of the marsh rice rat are known from Rancholabrean (late Pleistocene, less than 300,000 years ago) deposits in Florida and Georgia and remains referred to the extinct subspecies ''O. p. fossilis'' are from the Wisconsinan and
Sangamonian The Sangamonian Stage (or Sangamon interglacial) is the term used in North America to designate the Last Interglacial (130,000-115,000 years ago) and depending on definition, part of the early Last Glacial Period, corresponding to Marine Isotope St ...
of Texas and Illinoian and Sangamonian of Kansas. In the Florida Keys, rice rats occur on most of the Lower Keys, but are absent from the Upper Keys, which are of a different geological origin and were probably never connected to the mainland. The western and eastern ''Cytb'' clades within the marsh rice rat may represent expansions from different glacial refugia which the species was restricted to during a
glacial period A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betw ...
. Cave and archeological remains indicate that the range of the marsh rice rat has extended substantially further north and west earlier in the
Holocene The Holocene () is the current geologic time scale, geological epoch, beginning approximately 11,700 years ago. It follows the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene to ...
, into central Texas, eastern
Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...
, southwestern
Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...
, central Illinois, southern
Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...
, southern
Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
,
West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...
, and southwestern
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
. Most northern archeological sites date from about 1000 CE and are associated with
corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...
cultivation, but in some older cave sites the rice rat is found with the extinct giant armadillo '' Dasypus bellus'', suggesting warm climatic conditions. Perhaps a warm period during the
Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), as well as the current and most recent of the twelve periods of the ...
enabled the rice rat to disperse northward and when the climate cooled,
relict A relict is a surviving remnant of a natural phenomenon. Biology A relict (or relic) is an organism that at an earlier time was abundant in a large area but now occurs at only one or a few small areas. Geology and geomorphology In geology, a r ...
populations were able to survive in the north as
commensal Commensalism is a long-term biological interaction (symbiosis) in which members of one species gain benefits while those of the other species neither benefit nor are harmed. This is in contrast with mutualism, in which both organisms benefit f ...
s in corn-cultivating Native American communities. Some subfossil animals are slightly larger than living marsh rice rats, possibly because environmental constraints were relaxed in commensal populations. In Tamaulipas and southern Texas, the ranges of the marsh rice rat and the related ''Oryzomys couesi'' meet;Schmidt and Engstrom, 1994, p. 914 in parts of Kenedy, Willacy and Cameron counties, Texas, and in far northeastern Tamaulipas, the two are
sympatric In biology, two closely related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter each other. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct spe ...
(occur in the same places).Schmidt and Engstrom, 1994, p. 916 In experimental conditions, they fail to interbreed and genetic analysis yields no evidence of
gene flow In population genetics, gene flow (also known as migration and allele flow) is the transfer of genetic variation, genetic material from one population to another. If the rate of gene flow is high enough, then two populations will have equivalent ...
or hybridization in the wild.Schmidt and Engstrom, 1994, p. 920 Compared to ''O. couesi'', the marsh rice rat shows less genetic variability within but more between populations in the contact zone, probably because the species is restricted to isolated populations near the coast. The marsh rice rat occurs in several habitats, ranging from coastal salt marshes to mountain streams and clearings. It is
semiaquatic In biology, being semi-aquatic refers to various macroorganisms that live regularly in both aquatic and terrestrial environments. When referring to animals, the term describes those that actively spend part of their daily time in water (in ...
, spending much time in the water, and usually occurs in wetland habitats. It prefers areas where the ground is covered with grasses and sedges, which protect it from predators. In southern Illinois, marsh rice rats are more likely to occur in wetlands with more herbaceous cover, visual obstruction, and nearby grasslands. The species also occurs in drier uplands, which serve as sinks for young, dispersing animals and as refuges during high tide.Kruchek, 2004, p. 569 Rice rats are adept overwater dispersers; studies on islands off
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
's
Delmarva Peninsula The Delmarva Peninsula, or simply Delmarva, is a peninsula on the East Coast of the United States, occupied by the majority of the state of Delaware and parts of the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Eastern Shore of Virginia. The peninsula is l ...
show that they readily cross 300-m (1000 ft) channels between islands.


Behavior and ecology

Marsh rice rats are active during the night, so are rarely seen, although they may be among the most common small mammals in part of their range. They build nests of sedge and grass, about large, which are placed under debris, near shrubs, in short burrows, or high in aquatic vegetation. They may also use old nests of marsh wrens (''Cistothorus palustris''), red-winged blackbirds (''Agelaius phoeniceus''),
muskrat The muskrat or common muskrat (''Ondatra zibethicus'') is a medium-sized semiaquatic rodent native to North America and an introduced species in parts of Europe, Asia, and South America. The muskrat is found in wetlands over various climates ...
s (''Ondatra zibethicus'') or
round-tailed muskrat The round-tailed muskrat (''Neofiber alleni'') is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae, sometimes called the Florida water rat.anemotaxis), perhaps to move in a straight line, which is an efficient strategy to find suitable habitat. Many animals prey on marsh rice rats. The
barn owl The barn owls, owls in the genus '' Tyto'', are the most widely distributed genus of owls in the world. They are medium-sized owls with large heads and characteristic heart-shaped faces. They have long, strong legs with powerful talons. The ter ...
(''Tyto alba'') is among the most important; one study found that 97.5% of vertebrate remains in barn owl pellets were marsh rice rats. Other predators include birds such as marsh hawks (''Circus cyaneus''), and
barred owl The barred owl (''Strix varia''), also known as the northern barred owl, striped owl or, more informally, hoot owl or eight-hooter owl, is a North American large species of owl. A member of the true owl family, Strigidae, they belong to the genus ...
s (''Strix varia''); snakes such as cottonmouths ('' Agkistrodon piscivorus''); alligators (''Alligator mississippiensis''); and
carnivora Carnivora ( ) is an order of placental mammals specialized primarily in eating flesh, whose members are formally referred to as carnivorans. The order Carnivora is the sixth largest order of mammals, comprising at least 279 species. Carnivor ...
ns like
raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the North American, northern or common raccoon (also spelled racoon) to distinguish it from Procyonina, other species of raccoon, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest ...
s (''Procyon lotor''),
red fox The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus ...
es (''Vulpes vulpes''),
American mink The American mink (''Neogale vison'') is a semiaquatic species of Mustelidae, mustelid native to North America, though human introduction has expanded its range to many parts of Europe, Asia, and South America. Because of range expansion, the Am ...
(''Neogale vison''),
weasel Weasels are mammals of the genus ''Mustela'' of the family Mustelidae. The genus ''Mustela'' includes the least weasels, polecats, stoats, ferrets, and European mink. Members of this genus are small, active predators, with long and slend ...
s (''Mustela'' and ''Neogale'' sp.), and
striped skunk The striped skunk (''Mephitis mephitis'') is a skunk of the genus ''Mephitis (genus), Mephitis'' that occurs across much of North America, including southern Canada, the United States, and northern Mexico. It is currently listed as least concern ...
s (''Mephitis mephitis''). Many
parasite Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted str ...
s have been recorded on the marsh rice rat, including various ticks and mites,
lice Louse (: lice) is the common name for any member of the infraorder Phthiraptera, which contains nearly 5,000 species of wingless parasitic insects. Phthiraptera was previously recognized as an order, until a 2021 genetic study determined th ...
, and
flea Flea, the common name for the order (biology), order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by hematophagy, ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult f ...
s among external parasites and many
nematode The nematodes ( or ; ; ), roundworms or eelworms constitute the phylum Nematoda. Species in the phylum inhabit a broad range of environments. Most species are free-living, feeding on microorganisms, but many are parasitic. Parasitic worms (h ...
s and
digenea Digenea (Gr. ''Dis'' – double, ''Genos'' – race) is a class of trematodes in the Platyhelminthes phylum, consisting of parasitic flatworms (known as ''flukes'') with a syncytial tegument and, usually, two suckers, one ventral and one or ...
ns, a
pentastomid The Pentastomida are an enigmatic group of parasite, parasitic arthropods commonly known as tongue worms due to the resemblance of the species of the genus ''Linguatula'' to a vertebrate tongue; molecular studies point to them being highly deri ...
, and several
coccidia Coccidia (Coccidiasina) are a subclass of microscopic, spore-forming, single-celled obligate intracellular parasites belonging to the apicomplexan class Conoidasida. As obligate intracellular parasites, they must live and reproduce within a ...
ns among internal parasites (see '' Parasites of the marsh rice rat'').
Periodontitis Periodontal disease, also known as gum disease, is a set of inflammatory conditions affecting the tissues surrounding the teeth. In its early stage, called gingivitis, the gums become swollen and red and may bleed. It is considered the main c ...
, a bacterial disease affecting the jaws, is particularly virulent in marsh rice rats; the animal has been proposed as a model for research on the disease in humans. The identity of the bacterial agent remains unknown.
Vitamin E Vitamin E is a group of eight compounds related in molecular structure that includes four tocopherols and four tocotrienols. The tocopherols function as fat-soluble antioxidants which may help protect cell membranes from reactive oxygen speci ...
,
fluoride Fluoride (). According to this source, is a possible pronunciation in British English. is an Inorganic chemistry, inorganic, Monatomic ion, monatomic Ion#Anions and cations, anion of fluorine, with the chemical formula (also written ), whose ...
, and
iodide An iodide ion is I−. Compounds with iodine in formal oxidation state −1 are called iodides. In everyday life, iodide is most commonly encountered as a component of iodized salt, which many governments mandate. Worldwide, iodine deficiency ...
protect against bone loss associated with this disease in the rice rat and a high-
sucrose Sucrose, a disaccharide, is a sugar composed of glucose and fructose subunits. It is produced naturally in plants and is the main constituent of white sugar. It has the molecular formula . For human consumption, sucrose is extracted and refined ...
diet increases the severity of periodontitis. A case of
kyphosis Kyphosis () is an abnormally excessive convex curvature of the Spinal column, spine as it occurs in the Thoracic spine, thoracic and sacrum, sacral regions. Abnormal inward concave ''lordotic'' curving of the Cervical spine, cervical and Lumba ...
has been observed in a North Carolina marsh rice rat.


Population dynamics

The population density of the marsh rice rat usually does not reach 10 per ha (4 per acre).Whitaker and Hamilton, 1998, p. 281 The weather may influence population dynamics; in the
Everglades The Everglades is a natural region of flooded grasslands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orlando with the K ...
, densities may exceed 200 per ha (80 per acre) when flooding concentrates populations on small islands,Bloch and Rose, 2005, p. 302 In the Florida Keys, population density is less than 1 per ha (0.4 per acre). On Breton Island, Louisiana, perhaps an atypical habitat, home ranges in males average about and in females about . A study in Florida found male home ranges to average and female . Population size is usually largest during the summer and declines during winter, although populations in Texas and Louisiana may be more seasonally stable. Animals also often lose weight during winter. Population size varies dramatically from year to year in southern Texas.Schmidt and Engstrom, 1994, p. 917 In coastal Mississippi, storms probably do not cause the population to decline substantially, and in Texas, inundation of its habitat did not significantly influence population density. However, in Mississippi, flooding did cause a marked decline in rice rat abundance. In the northern part of its range, the species often occurs with the meadow vole (''Microtus pennsylvanicus''), but no evidence shows they compete with each other. In the south, the hispid cotton rat (''Sigmodon hispidus'') and the rice rat regularly occur together; water levels are known to influence relative abundance of these two species in Florida.Wolfe, 1982, p. 3 The cotton rat is mainly active during the day, which may help differentiate its niche from that of the rice rat.


Diet

The marsh rice rat takes both vegetable and animal food, and is more carnivorous than most small rodents are; dominant food items vary seasonally. Plants eaten include species of ''
Spartina ''Spartina'' is a genus of plants in the grass family, frequently found in coastal salt marshes. Species in this genus are commonly known as cordgrass or cord-grass, and are native to the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean in western and southern Eu ...
'', ''
Salicornia ''Salicornia'' is a genus of succulent, halophytic (salt tolerant) flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae that grow in salt marshes, on beaches, and among mangroves. ''Salicornia'' species are native to North America, Europe, central Asia, ...
'', '' Tripsacum'', and '' Elymus'', among others; it mainly eats seeds and succulent parts. It prefers ''
Spartina alterniflora ''Sporobolus alterniflorus'', or synonymously known as ''Spartina alterniflora'', the smooth cordgrass, saltmarsh cordgrass, or salt-water cordgrass, is a perennial deciduous grass which is found in intertidal wetlands, especially estuarine salt ...
'' that has been fertilized with nitrogen and mainly eats the inner tissue of the stem, perhaps because nitrogen-fertilized plants contain much less
dimethylsulfoniopropionate Dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), is an organosulfur compound with the formula (CH3)2S+CH2CH2COO−. This zwitterionic metabolite can be found in marine phytoplankton, seaweeds, and some species of terrestrial and aquatic vascular plants. ...
in their inner tissues.Otto et al., 2004, p. 1922 The marsh rice rat was a major pest on
rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...
plantations, feeding on the rice when it was newly planted. It also eats the fungus '' Endogone'' at times. Animals that are important to the marsh rice rat's diet include insects,
fiddler crab The fiddler crab or calling crab can be one of the hundred species of semiterrestrial marine crabs in the family Ocypodidae. These crabs are well known for their extreme sexual dimorphism, where the male crabs have a major claw significantly l ...
s, and snails, but the species is known to eat many other animals, including fish, clams, and juvenile '' Graptemys'' and '' Chrysemys'' turtles. They scavenge on carcasses of muskrats, deermice, and sparrows, and may be the most important predator on eggs and young of the marsh wren.Whitaker and Hamilton, 1998, p. 280; Wolfe, 1982, p. 3 Rice rats also eat eggs and young of the seaside sparrow (''Ammodramus maritimus'')Post, 1981, p. 35 and are aggressive towards the sparrow, apparently leading it to avoid nesting in '' Juncus'' in a seaside salt marsh in Florida. On islands in North Carolina, rice rats consume eggs of Forster's tern (''Sterna forsteri''). They have been observed preying on alligator eggs in Georgia. Laboratory studies have found that rice rats assimilate 88% to 95% of the energy in their food. They lose weight when fed on ''Spartina'', fiddler crabs, or sunflower seeds alone, but a diet consisting of several of those items or of mealworms is adequate to maintain weight. In an experiment, marsh rice rats did not show
hoarding Hoarding is the act of engaging in excessive acquisition of items that are not needed or for which no space is available. Civil unrest or the threat of natural disasters may lead people to hoard foodstuffs, water, gasoline, and other essentials ...
behavior, but wild rice rats have been observed carrying food to a nest. Even when they live in uplands, they mostly eat water plants and animals, although they consume some upland plants.


Reproduction and lifecycle

Breeding occurs mostly during the summer. Some studies report that breeding ceases entirely during the winter, but winter breeding occurs as far north as Virginia, primarily because photoperiod influences their circadian rhythm which determines breeding. In both Texas and Virginia, variation in reproductive activity in females is less than in males. In the south of its range, animals may breed less when the summer is at its warmest. The duration of the
estrous cycle The estrous cycle (, originally ) is a set of recurring physiological changes induced by reproductive hormones in females of mammalian subclass Theria. Estrous cycles start after sexual maturity in females and are interrupted by anestrous phase ...
ranges from 6 to 9 days, with an average of 7.72 days. Estrus occurs again after a litter is born. Copulatory behavior in the marsh rice rat is similar to that in laboratory brown rats. Before mating starts, "the male pursues the running female from behind."Dewsbury, 1970, p. 268 The male then repeatedly mounts and dismounts the female; not all mounts result in an ejaculation. Penetrations only last for about 250 ms, but during mating, the penetrations and the intervals between them become longer.Dewsbury, 1970, p. 269 Even when a male is satiated after mating, it is able to copulate again when a new female is introduced (the Coolidge effect).Dewsbury, 1970, p. 271 Partly because of resistance by the female, the frequency of ejaculation during mating is rather low in marsh rice rats as compared to laboratory rats,
hamster Hamsters are rodents (order Rodentia) belonging to the subfamily Cricetinae, which contains 19 species classified in seven genera. They have become established as popular small pets. The best-known species of hamster is the golden or Syrian ...
s, and deermice.Dewsbury, 1970, p. 274 After a gestation of about 25 days, three to five young are usually born, although litter sizes vary from one to seven. Females may have up to six litters a year. Newborns weigh 3 to 4 g (about 0.10 to 0.15 oz) and are blind and almost naked. About as many males as females are born. The external ears (pinnae) soon unfold and on the first day, claws are visible and the young emit high-pitched squeaks. On the second day, they are able to crawl, and during the third to fifth days, the whiskers and eyelids develop. On the two subsequent days, the mammae and incisors become visible and the animals become more active. Between the eighth and 11th days, the eyes open, the fur develops, and the young begin to take solid food. Weaning occurs on the 11th to 20th day, according to different studies. Considerable variation is reported in body masses at different ages, perhaps because of geographic variation. Sexual activity commences when the animals are about 50 to 60 days old. In the wild, rice rats usually live for less than a year; one study suggested that the average lifespan is only seven months.Negus et al., 1961, p. 103


Human interactions

The marsh rice rat is generally of little importance to humans, which is perhaps why it is not as well studied as some other North American rodents. In 1931, Arthur Svihla noted that virtually no information had been published on the habits and life history of the marsh rice rat since the 1854 publication of Audubon and Bachman's description. Writing on Everglades mammals, Thomas E. Lodge notes that although the name "rat" may associate it unpleasantly with the introduced black and brown rats, its appearance is more endearing, even cute. J. S. Steward proposed the marsh rice rat as a model organism in 1951 to study certain infections to which other rodents used at the time are not susceptible. The marsh rice rat is quite susceptible to
periodontitis Periodontal disease, also known as gum disease, is a set of inflammatory conditions affecting the tissues surrounding the teeth. In its early stage, called gingivitis, the gums become swollen and red and may bleed. It is considered the main c ...
and has been used as a model system for the study of that disease. The marsh rice rat is the primary host of the Bayou virus (BAYV), the second-most common agent of
hantavirus ''Orthohantavirus'' is a genus of viruses that includes all hantaviruses (family ''Hantaviridae'') that cause disease in humans. Orthohantaviruses, hereafter referred to as hantaviruses, are naturally found primarily in rodents. In general, each ...
infections in the United States. About 16% of animals are infected and the virus is most prevalent in old, heavy males. The virus may be transmitted among rice rats through bites inflicted during fights. It is also present in rice rat saliva and urine, and human infections may occur because of contact with these excreta. Two related hantaviruses, Catacama virus and Playa de Oro virus, are known from ''Oryzomys couesi'' in Honduras and western Mexico, respectively. An
arenavirus An arenavirus is a bi- or trisegmented ambisense RNA virus that is a member of the family ''Arenaviridae''. These viruses infect rodents and occasionally humans. A class of novel, highly divergent arenaviruses, properly known as reptarenavirus ...
normally associated with woodrats (''Neotoma'') has also been found in Florida marsh rice rats. Antibodies against ''
Borrelia burgdorferi ''Borrelia burgdorferi'' is a bacterial species of the spirochete class in the genus '' Borrelia'', and is one of the causative agents of Lyme disease in humans. Along with a few similar genospecies, some of which also cause Lyme disease, it m ...
'', the bacterium that causes
Lyme disease Lyme disease, also known as Lyme borreliosis, is a tick-borne disease caused by species of ''Borrelia'' bacteria, Disease vector, transmitted by blood-feeding ticks in the genus ''Ixodes''. It is the most common disease spread by ticks in th ...
in the United States, have been found in marsh rice rats in Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Another pathogenic bacterium, '' Bartonella'', is known from Georgia marsh rice rats. The 2016
IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...
assesses the conservation status of the marsh rice rat as "
Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...
", because it is a common, widespread, and stable species without major threats that occurs in several
protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...
s. The Florida Keys form is rare and in decline and is threatened by competition with the black rat, predation by domestic cats, habitat loss, and loss of genetic variation; it is considered endangered. At the northern edge of its distribution, the marsh rice rat is listed as threatened in Illinois, and whether it persists in Pennsylvania is unclear; it probably formerly occurred in tidal marshes on the
Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...
. In Illinois, its population may have regenerated because wetlands have been developed to protect waterfowl and shorebirds and because suitable wetlands often develop in abandoned coal-mining operations. A 2001 study projected that
climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
would reduce the range of the marsh rice rat in Texas, where it is now common, but may become threatened by habitat loss in the future. A study at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant found that rice rats accumulate more
polychlorinated biphenyl Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are organochlorine compounds with the formula Carbon, C12Hydrogen, H10−''x''Chloride, Cl''x''; they were once widely used in the manufacture of carbonless copy paper, as heat transfer fluids, and as dielectri ...
s, but less heavy metal than white-footed mice (''Peromyscus leucopus'').Smith et al., 2002, p. 261


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Doubleday, Page & Company, 316 pp. *Svihla, A. 1931
Life history of the Texas rice rat (''Oryzomys palustris texensis'')
(subscription required). ''Journal of Mammalogy'' 12(3):238–242. *Voss, R.S. and Linzey, A.V. 1981
Comparative gross morphology of male accessory glands among Neotropical Muridae (Mammalia: Rodentia) with comments on systematic implications
''Miscellaneous Publications of the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology'' 159:1–41. *Wang, Y., Williams, D.A. and Gaines, M.S. 2005
Evidence for a recent genetic bottleneck in the endangered Florida Keys silver rice rat (''Oryzomys argentatus'') revealed by microsatellite DNA analyses
(subscription required). ''Conservation Genetics'' 6:575–585. *Webster, W.D. 1987
Kyphosis in the marsh rice rat (''Oryzomys palustris'')
''Journal of Wildlife Diseases'' 23(1):171–172. *Weksler, M. 2006
Phylogenetic relationships of oryzomyine rodents (Muroidea: Sigmodontinae): separate and combined analyses of morphological and molecular data
''Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History'' 296:1–149. *Weksler, M., Percequillo, A.R. and Voss, R.S. 2006
Ten new genera of oryzomyine rodents (Cricetidae: Sigmodontinae)
''American Museum Novitates'' 3537:1–29. *Whitaker, J.O. and Hamilton, W.J. 1998
''Mammals of the Eastern United States''
Cornell University Press, 583 pp. *Winkler, A.J. 1990
Small mammals from a Holocene sequence in central Texas and their paleoenvironmental implications
(subscription required). ''The Southwestern Naturalist'' 35(2):199–205. *Wolfe, J.L. 1982
Oryzomys palustris
''Mammalian Species'' 176:1–5. *Wolfe, J.L. and Esher, R.J. 1981
Effects of crude oil on swimming behavior and survival in the rice rat
(subscription required). ''Environmental Research'' 26:486–489. {{Taxonbar, from=Q1092084 Oryzomys Rodents of the United States Rodents of Mexico Mammals described in 1837 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Richard Harlan