Nelson's kangaroo rat (''Dipodomys nelsoni'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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

Heteromyidae Heteromyidae is a family of rodents consisting of kangaroo rats, kangaroo mice, pocket mice and spiny pocket mice. Most heteromyids live in complex burrows within the deserts and grasslands of western North America, though species within th ...

which 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 ...

to the central plateau of

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 ...

Description

Nelson's kangaroo rat reaches a length of about including a tail of about and is one of the largest species in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

. The upper parts are pale brown with some dark-tipped hairs on the head, along the spine and on the rump, and the underparts are white. The tail has a white stripe on either side along two thirds of its length, and the terminal third is bushy, black with a white tip. Nelson's kangaroo rat is similar in appearance to the

banner-tailed kangaroo rat The banner-tailed kangaroo rat (''Dipodomys spectabilis'') is a species of rodent in the family Heteromyidae. It is found in arid environments in the southwestern United States and Mexico where it lives in a burrow by day and forages for seeds an ...

(''Dipodomys spectabilis'') but is smaller in size, weighing on average to the banner-tail's .

Distribution and habitat

Nelson's kangaroo rat is endemic to the Mexican Altiplano, a large upland area between the mountain ranges of the

Sierra Madre Occidental The Sierra Madre Occidental is a major mountain range system of the North American Cordillera, that runs northwest–southeast through northwestern and western Mexico, and along the Gulf of California. The Sierra Madre is part of the American ...

and the Sierra Madre Oriental. Its typical habitat is rolling grassland or semiarid areas with scattered trees and shrubs such as '' Acacia'', ''

Prosopis juliflora ''Prosopis juliflora'' ( es, bayahonda blanca, Cuji Venezuela, Trupillo Colombia, Aippia Wayuunaiki and long-thorn kiawe in Hawaii) is a shrub or small tree in the family Fabaceae, a kind of mesquite. It is native to Mexico, South America and th ...

'', ''

Larrea tridentata ''Larrea tridentata'', called creosote bush and greasewood as a plant, chaparral as a medicinal herb, and ''gobernadora'' (Spanish for "governess") in Mexico, due to its ability to secure more water by inhibiting the growth of nearby plants. In S ...

'', ''

Fouquieria splendens ''Fouquieria splendens'' (commonly known as ocotillo (), but also referred to as buggywhip, coachwhip, candlewood, slimwood, desert coral, Jacob's staff, Jacob cactus, and vine cactus) is a plant indigenous to the Sonoran Desert and Chihuahua ...

'',

cactus A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Gree ...

, ''

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, ...

'' and ''

Agave ''Agave'' (; ; ) is a genus of monocots native to the hot and arid regions of the Americas and the Caribbean, although some ''Agave'' species are also native to tropical areas of North America, such as Mexico. The genus is primarily known for ...

''.

Ecology

Nelson's kangaroo rat creates a complex burrow system with several entrances which are surrounded by a distinctive large, low-domed mound. Some burrows are alongside roads and the entrances can be found in the sides of banks or ditches. Other burrows are surrounded by a strip of bare ground twenty metres (yards) or so wide. An attempt to dig out a burrow was largely unsuccessful with passages disappearing laterally and down through the subsurface rock layer, and no nests, food or fecal pellets being found in the excavated part of the burrow. The diet of this species consists of plant foods including seeds. Breeding takes place throughout the year but mostly in the spring and summer. Captures of pregnant females suggest that litters consist of two young.

Status

Nelson's kangaroo rat has a wide range in central Mexico where it is generally uncommon, being present at an estimated density of 9–20 individuals per hectare. The total population is presumed to be large and it faces no particular threats so the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of nat ...

(IUCN) has listed it as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

References

External links

Smith College article
{{Taxonbar, from=Q303732 Nelson's Kangaroo Rat Endemic mammals of Mexico Mexican Plateau Mammals described in 1907 Taxa named by Clinton Hart Merriam Taxonomy articles created by Polbot