Schmidly's deer mouse (''Peromyscus schmidlyi''), is a recently described species of

deer mouse ''Peromyscus'' is a genus of rodents. They are commonly referred to as deer mice or deermice, not to be confused with the chevrotain or "mouse deer". They are New World mice only distantly related to the common house and laboratory mouse, ''Mu ...

from the mountains of western

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 ...

. It is part of the highly complex and well-studied '' Peromyscus boylii''

species complex In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

. The uniqueness of ''Peromyscus'' from this area had long been suspected, but was only formalized in 2004 with the publication of its species description. The species was named in honor of

David J. Schmidly David James Schmidly (born December 20, 1943) is an American academic administrator and zoologist who served as president of Texas Tech University, Oklahoma State University, and the University of New Mexico. On April 22, 2011, Schmidly announc ...

, a

mammalogist In zoology, mammalogy is the study of mammals – a class of vertebrates with characteristics such as homeothermic metabolism, fur, four-chambered hearts, and complex nervous systems. Mammalogy has also been known as "mastology," "theriology," a ...

and former president of the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25, ...

. The name "Schmidly's deer mouse" is ambiguous, as it is shared by another species, ''

Habromys schmidlyi ''Habromys schmidlyi'', sometimes known as Schmidly's deer mouse, is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae found only in Mexico. Its natural habitat is cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropic ...

''.

Description

''P. schmidlyi'', or Schmidly's deermouse, is a typical deer mouse, and can only be reliably distinguished from other members of its

species group In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

by DNA analysis. It is in length, with a tail long. The fur is reddish umber over most of the body, becoming almost white on the under parts. The feet have a grey stripe extending past the ankle, and white toes. The tail is dark and bears only coarse, sparse hair, except for a tuft at the tip. It is similar in appearance to the

nimble-footed mouse The nimble-footed mouse (''Peromyscus levipes'') is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is found only in Mexico. Description The nimble-footed mouse has a typical mouse-like appearance, and closely resembles other members of the ''P ...

, but is usually larger and darker in color. Like all deermice, ''P. schmidlyli'' has 16 total teeth (i 1/1, c 0/0, p 0/0, m 3/3), and the males have scrotal testes.

Detailed parameters

The dilated body description is shown below.

Genetics

Its

monophyly In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gr ...

has been confirmed using

parsimony Parsimony refers to the quality of economy or frugality in the use of resources. Parsimony may also refer to * The Law of Parsimony, or Occam's razor, a problem-solving principle ** Maximum parsimony (phylogenetics), an optimality criterion in p ...

maximum likelihood In statistics, maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) is a method of estimating the parameters of an assumed probability distribution, given some observed data. This is achieved by maximizing a likelihood function so that, under the assumed sta ...

, and

Bayesian analysis Bayesian inference is a method of statistical inference in which Bayes' theorem is used to update the probability for a hypothesis as more evidence or information becomes available. Bayesian inference is an important technique in statistics, and ...

of 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 us ...

cytochrome b Cytochrome b within both molecular and cell biology, is a protein found in the mitochondria of eukaryotic cells. It functions as part of the electron transport chain and is the main subunit of transmembrane cytochrome bc1 and b6f complexes. ...

gene. The species also differs from other ''Peromyscus'' in having the

karyotype A karyotype is the general appearance of the complete set of metaphase 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 disce ...

(FN = 54-56). Its closest relative appears to be ''Peromyscus levipes''.

Distribution and habitat

The species is found in the states of

Sinaloa Sinaloa (), officially the Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sinaloa), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities and ...

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 ...

and

Durango Durango (), officially named Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Durango; Tepehuán: ''Korian''; Nahuatl: ''Tepēhuahcān''), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated i ...

in the

Sierra Madre Occidental The Sierra Madre Occidental is a major mountain range system of the North American Cordillera, that runs northwest–southeast through northwestern and western Mexico, and along the Gulf of California. The Sierra Madre is part of the American ...

of Mexico. Like many other members of the '' P. boylii'' species group, it is found only at higher elevations, above . It is known to inhabit deep gullies and rocky hillsides in

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family (biology), family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic ...

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

forests. The dominant vegetation of these areas consists of

pointleaf manzanita ''Arctostaphylos pungens'', with the common name pointleaf manzanita, is a species of manzanita. It is native to the Southwestern United States and to northern and central Mexico, where it grows in chaparral and woodland habitats, and on desert r ...

kittle lemonhead Kittle may refer to: People * Kittle (surname) Places * Kittle, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Kittle (Guyana), a kettle drum used in the music of Guyana * Kittle, Swansea Kittle is a village in the City of and County of Swansea, Wal ...

, one-seeded jumper, Apache, Ponderosa, and Yecora pine,

Arizona white oak ''Quercus arizonica'', the Arizona white oak, is a North American tree species in the beech family. It is found in Arizona, New Mexico, western Texas, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Sinaloa, and Durango. Description The Arizona white oak is one ...

, sipuri, and

silverleaf oak ''Quercus hypoleucoides'', the silverleaf oak or the whiteleaf oak is a North American species of oak tree or shrub. It grows in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Description ''Quercus hypoleucoides'', though usually seen as ...

. The annual vegetation is six-week threeawn, spidergrass, common oats, and needle grams.

Disease

Like all deermice, ''P. schmidlyi'' can be a host for viruses and bacteria, and a vector for disease.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5408934 Peromyscus Mammals described in 2004