The blackish deer mouse (''Peromyscus furvus'') is a species of

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the 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 rodents. They are na ...

in the family Cricetidae found only 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 Guatema ...

, and is relatively poorly studied.

Description

The blackish deer mouse is a relatively large member of its

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

, with a total length of , including the tail; males are slightly larger than females. As the common name implies, the fur over most of the head and body is a mixture of black and dark brown, giving the animal an overall color that has been described as ''

bistre Bistre (or bister) can refer to two things: a very dark shade of grayish brown (the version shown on the immediate right); a shade of brown made from soot, or the name for a color resembling the brownish pigment. Bistre's appearance is genera ...

''. However, the feet, and some cases, the tip of the tail, are white, and the underparts are pale grey. There is a ring of pure black fur around the eyes, while the tail has only a sparse covering of hair. The female has six teats, two in the axillary region, and four in the

inguinal In human anatomy, the inguinal region refers to either the groin or the lower lateral regions of the abdomen. It may also refer to: * Conjoint tendon, previously known as the inguinal aponeurotic falx, a structure formed from the transversus abdo ...

region. They are

herbivorous A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthpart ...

, and have been recorded as eating

pokeweed ''Phytolacca americana'', also known as American pokeweed, pokeweed, poke sallet, dragonberries, and inkberry, is a poisonous, herbaceous perennial plant in the pokeweed family Phytolaccaceae. This pokeweed grows . It has simple leaves on green ...

fruit and blackberries. They are believed to either breed year-round, or, at least, to have a prolonged breeding season that lasts for much of the year.

Distribution and habitat

The blackish deer mouse is endemic to

, where it inhabits

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud c ...

s, and in nearby forests dominated by

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 ...

and

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

. It prefers environments with heavy undergrowth or cover in the form of rocky cliffs, small caves, or fallen logs. Although its exact range is unclear, it has been collected from the eastern slopes of the

Sierra Madre Oriental The Sierra Madre Oriental () is a mountain range in northeastern Mexico. The Sierra Madre Oriental is part of the American Cordillera, a chain of mountain ranges (cordillera) that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that f ...

mountains between elevation, from San Luis Potosi in the north to

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...

in the south. There are no formally recognised subspecies, although genetic analysis of specimens collected in

has shown these may represent an entirely separate species, which has yet to be scientifically described.

References

Peromyscus Mammals described in 1897 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Endemic mammals of Mexico Fauna of the Sierra Madre Oriental {{Peromyscus-stub