The painted spiny pocket mouse (''Heteromys pictus'') is a species of

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 lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are roden ...

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 found in

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

and the northern tip of Guatemala. It was formerly placed in the genus ''Liomys'', which is now recognized to be

paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

and has been subsumed into ''

Heteromys ''Heteromys'' is a genus of rodents in the family Heteromyidae, commonly known as spiny pocket mice. It is the only extant genus in the subfamily Heteromyinae which also includes the extinct genera '' Diprionomys'' and '' Metaliomys''. ''Heter ...

''.

Description

The painted spiny pocket mouse is a medium-sized species and grows to a head and body length of about with a tail as long again, males being slightly larger than females. The

pelage Fur is a thick growth of hair that covers the skin of 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 insulating blanket t ...

is composed of a mixture of stiff spines with soft, slender hairs, but because the hairs do not curl upward, the spines are the prominent feature of the coat. The upper parts of the head and body are reddish-brown and the underparts are white. The lateral line that separates the dorsal and ventral colors is some shade of dark or pale ochre. Immature pocket mice are grey and their coat consists mainly of soft hairs.

Distribution and habitat

The painted spiny pocket mouse is found in Mexico and Guatemala at altitudes of up to . Its range includes western Mexico, from the state of

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into 72 municipalities; the ...

southwards to the state of

Chiapas Chiapas (; Tzotzil and Tzeltal: ''Chyapas'' ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the states that make up the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 124 municipalities ...

, the eastern Mexican state of

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

, and the extreme northwestern corner of Guatemala. Its typical habitat is dry deciduous woodland or bushy scrubland and it occurs near streams in otherwise arid regions, often in places with cactus and acacia. In regions where their ranges overlap, it occurs in moister, lower habitats than the Mexican spiny pocket mouse (''Heteromys irroratus'').

Behavior

The painted spiny pocket mouse is nocturnal and solitary, with individuals just coming together for breeding. It lives in a burrow and engages in such activities as sand bathing, collecting seeds in its

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 chipmunks ...

es, caching food, scratching and caring for its coat. The diet mainly consists of seeds (large ones being preferred), green vegetation and small

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

s such as

spider Spiders (order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species d ...

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of ...

crickets Crickets are orthopteran insects which are related to bush crickets, and, more distantly, to grasshoppers. In older literature, such as Imms,Imms AD, rev. Richards OW & Davies RG (1970) ''A General Textbook of Entomology'' 9th Ed. Methuen 88 ...

and

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

s. Breeding takes place throughout most of the year, though few pregnant females were recorded between December and February and male mice had smaller testicles during that period. Litter sizes range from two to six and the average

gestation Gestation is the period of development during the carrying of an embryo, and later fetus, inside viviparous animals (the embryo develops within the parent). It is typical for mammals, but also occurs for some non-mammals. Mammals during preg ...

period is 25 days. The litter may stay together for one to two months but separates when there is a high level of aggression among the littermates.

Status

The painted spiny pocket mouse has a wide range and is common in parts of that range. The IUCN lists it as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. Th ...

" as, although its population trend is downward due to forest clearance, it is not declining at a rate so fast as to warrant a more threatened category.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q115757 Painted Spiny Pocket Mouse Mammals of Mexico Rodents of Central America Painted Spiny Pocket Mouse Painted Spiny Pocket Mouse Taxonomy articles created by Polbot