Mexican volcano mouse
| Mexican volcano mouse Temporal range: Pleistocene – Recent
|
|
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
| Class: | |
| Order: | |
| Family: | |
| Subfamily: | |
| Tribe: | |
| Genus: |
Neotomodon
Merriam, 1898
|
| Species: |
N. alstoni
|
| Binomial name | |
| Neotomodon alstoni Merriam, 1898
|
|
Lua error in Module:Taxonbar/candidate at line 22: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
The Mexican volcano mouse (Neotomodon alstoni) is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae endemic to high elevation areas of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt.
Taxonomy and systematics
Merriam originally described the Mexican volcano mouse as one of three species in the genus Neotomodon; N. alstoni was moved to the deer mouse genus Peromyscus in 1979, then subsequently moved back to Neotomodon.[2] Merriam does not state after whom the species is named in his original description for the genus (and species).[3] Despite the current taxonomy, a recent phylogeny based on cytochrome-b sequences shows Peromyscus to be polyphyletic, and the authors of that paper suggest Neotomodon (and several other monotypic genera) be transferred to Peromyscus.[4]
Characteristics
With relatively large eyes and ears, bi-colored body and tail (dark dorsally and white ventrally), and a tail slightly shorter than the body length, the Mexican volcano mouse appears very similar to a deer mouse, but it is diagnosed by several skull characters including the number and extent of palatal ridges and molar characteristics.[4]
Life events
Mexican volcano mouse breeding is thought to occur between June and September, with two to three litters per year of 3.3 young per litter.[4] The mouse exhibits bi-parental care in captivity, which suggests a monogamous mating system.[5] Little is known about other life history characteristics of the species, for example, sex ratio, age at first breeding, etc.
References
- ↑ Álvarez-Castañeda, S.T. & Castro-Arellano, I. (2008). Neotomodon alstoni. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Further reading
- 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.
<templatestyles src="Asbox/styles.css"></templatestyles>
 |
This Cricetidae article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
