Hooper's mouse (''Peromyscus hooperi'') 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 n ...

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, and h ...

. It is the only member of the ''Peromyscus hooperi''

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 ...

, and is 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 ...

. The species is named for Emmett Hooper, a researcher into the

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

of the genus ''Peromyscus''.

Description

Hooper's mouse is a medium-sized

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 ...

, with a total length of , including the tail. Adults have an average weight of . The mouse is greyish in color, with a faint brownish tint, and has cream-colored underparts fading to white on the lower limbs. The tail is also darker above than below, but has only short hair. Females have six teats.

Distribution and habitat

Hooper's mouse is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

, where it is found only in Coahuila and in neighboring regions of San Luis Potosí and

Zacatecas , image_map = Zacatecas in Mexico (location map scheme).svg , map_caption = State of Zacatecas within Mexico , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type ...

. It lives in high altitude grasslands, between about above sea level, above the scrublands of the

Chihuahuan Desert The Chihuahuan Desert ( es, Desierto de Chihuahua, ) is a desert ecoregion designation covering parts of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. It occupies much of far West Texas, the middle to lower Rio Grande Valley and the lo ...

, but below the montane chaparral habitats of the higher mountains. In addition to grass, this region is dominated by plants such as ''

Dasylirion ''Dasylirion'' is a genus of North American plants in the asparagus family, all native to Mexico, with the ranges of three species also extending into the south-western United States. In the APG III classification system, it is placed in the fa ...

'' and ''

Yucca ''Yucca'' is a genus of perennial plant, perennial shrubs and trees in the family (biology), family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. Its 40–50 species are notable for their Rosette (botany), rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped Leaf, ...

''. There are no subspecies.

Biology

Females give birth to litters with an average of three young after a 33-day gestation. The young are born blind, hairless, and helpless. They begin to move after about five days, and open their eyes at thirteen days. Females undergo their first

estrus The estrous cycle (, originally ) is the set of recurring physiological changes that are induced by reproductive hormones in most mammalian therian females. Estrous cycles start after sexual maturity in females and are interrupted by anestrous ...

at around 69 days. The relationships between Hooper's mouse and other species of deer mouse are unclear. The shape of their teeth and of some of their scent glands resemble those of the ''eremicus'' species group, while the shape of the baculum and the position of the teats instead resemble those of the ''leucopus'' group. it is now usually considered the only member of its own species group, and may represent an evolutionary link between the other two species groups.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1761004 Peromyscus Mammals described in 1977 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot