Plains Harvest Mouse
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The plains harvest mouse (''Reithrodontomys montanus'') 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 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 has m ...
. It is found in northern
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 the central
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.


Description

The dorsal part of the Plains Harvest Mouse is grey with a darker grey mid-dorsal stipe, and the ventral part is whitish. Its tail has less and shorter hair, with the same color as the mid-dorsal stripe. The body length of the Plains Harvest Mouse is 54 mm to 146 mm total, and the tail is 20 mm to 69 mm. The body mass of a female Plains Harvest Mouse is 7.5 g to 13.5 g, slightly larger than the male at 6.5 g to 10.8 g. Its hair length is different by season, being 11 mm-12 mm in winter, and 6 mm-7 mm in summer.


Reproduction & Growth

''R.montanus'' reaches breeding age at 85 days. The gestation period is about 21 days, and the time between successive gestations is 21 to 27 days. The breeding period for ''R.montanus'' living in colder regions (Central United States) is during June to August while in warmer regions (Central America) ''R.montanus'' can breed in every month of the year. Lactation period of the female is every month but August to October. Newborn Plains Harvest Mice weigh about 1 g. It is born naked and blind. Its hair grows in 6 days, it opens its eyes at 8 days, and weaning is in 14 days. Reaching adult size takes 5 weeks. When it is juvenile, the fur is plain, sparse and curled like cotton. As a juvenile, the hair becomes more shiny, but less dense than the adult.


Ecology

Since the food sources of the Plains Harvest Mouse are mainly invertebrates and seeds, the mouse can be found in grassy fields or grazed prairie. Their nest is globular and has a dimension of 10 cm to 11 cm. It is formed of compacted grasses and has one opening. Sex ratio in their habitat is almost 1:1. Their main predator is still not identified, but most carnivorous mammals, some reptiles, and amphibians are predators of the mouse.


References

*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. Reithrodontomys Mammals described in 1855 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Reithrodontomys-stub