The slender harvest mouse(''Reithrodontomys gracilis'') 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
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 almost 608 species, it is the second-largest family of mammals, a ...
. A small mouse-like rodent distributed throughout a portion Central America.
Description
The slender harvest mouse has short pale pelage. Upper areas and back appearing somewhat darker than their under sides which vary from a pinkish cinnamon color to tawny, orange, or white. Ears are brown or black with little pelage. The coloration of the feet may vary seasonally and geographically. Their tails are slender and scaly with scattered hairs and may be bicolored to clove brown.
Range and Habitat
The slender harvest mouse can be found in
Belize
Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wa ...
,
Costa Rica,
El Salvador
El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by ...
,
Guatemala,
Honduras,
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
Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean Sea, Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to ...
. General distribution is in elevations from sea level to near 1,400 meters from southern Mexico in the Yucatán Peninsula to northwestern Costa Rica. Populations favor semiarid and arid areas with apparent ground cover, from tropical evergreen and deciduous forests to cactus covered desert areas. Never reported as common and no well published estimated of numbers. It is notable that this species is also somewhat scansorial, being found on cliffs, in trees, and among roots.
Reproduction
Very little is known of the slender harvest mouse's reproduction. Litter sizes seems to range from 2 to 4, but three being average. The reproductive season is likely extended from late winter to mid-autumn.
Phylogeny
The slender harvest mouse may be considered under the subfamily Muridae and is within the subgenera of ''Aprodon'' and in the clade ''R. mexicanus''. The closest relation to the slender harvest mouse is the Cozumel harvest mouse, ''R. spectabilis''. Five subspecies of ''R. gracilis'' are currently recognized, but do not form a monophyletic group. The slender harvest mouse differs in the other members of its subgenus in that it is smaller with an elongated skull. Limb bones of a small harvest mouse, possibly ''R. gracilis'', was found in a cave on the Yucatán Peninsula and dated to the Pleistocene.
References
* Baillie, J. 1996.
Reithrodontomys gracilis 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 20 July 2007.
* Musser, G. G. and M. D. Carleton. 2005. Superfamily Muroidea. pp. 894–1531 ''in'' Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
* Young, Carole J. and Jones, J. Knox Jr. April 27, 1984. Mammalian Species: Reithrodontomys gracilis. No. 218. pp. 1–3 ''in'' The American Society of Mammalogists. C.J. Young and J. K. Jones eds. Texas tech University.
*
Reithrodontomys
Rodents of Central America
Mammals described in 1897
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
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