The white-eared pocket mouse (''Perognathus alticolus'') 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

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 the gen ...

. It 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 elsew ...

to the

San Bernardino Mountains The San Bernardino Mountains are a high and rugged mountain range in Southern California in the United States. Situated north and northeast of San Bernardino and spanning two California counties, the range tops out at at San Gorgonio Mountain � ...

and the

Tehachapi Mountains The Tehachapi Mountains (; Kawaiisu: ''Tihachipia'', meaning "hard climb") are a mountain range in the Transverse Ranges system of California in the Western United States. The range extends for approximately in southern Kern County and northwest ...

of southern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

in the

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 ...

. There are two subspecies of ''P. alticolus'' in California, ''P. a. alticolus'' and ''P. a. inexpectatus'', both of which are considered species of special concern by the

California Department of Fish and Wildlife The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), formerly known as the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), is a state agency under the California Natural Resources Agency. The Department of Fish and Wildlife manages and protect ...

Characteristics

White-eared pocket mice are native to the

and

in California. They are named after there feature of having white or yellowish hair on the external portion of there ear. Within the genus

Perognathus ''Perognathus'' is a genus of pocket mouse. Like other members of their family they are more closely related to pocket gophers than to true mice. Characteristics The silky pocket mice are small animals with soft pelage, long tails, and small f ...

, ''P. alticolus'' is on the medium to large size. The back of the mouse is yellowish brown with blackish lines and the underbelly of it is white. The tail typically has two or three colors. The under portion is white and the top portion matches the back of the mouse with the tip of the tail being black or ducky in color. The body length, tail length, hind foot length and length of many other feature of the male is much larger than the female. This means they are

sexually dimorphic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

based on size.

Anatomy

Sexually dimorphic measurements

Distribution

White-eared pocket mice are only found in California. They can be found in

Kern county Kern County is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 909,235. Its county seat is Bakersfield. Kern County comprises the Bakersfield, California, Metropolitan statistical area. The county sp ...

Los Angeles county Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...

San Bernardino County San Bernardino County (), officially the County of San Bernardino, is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 2,181, ...

and the

. They inhabit arid shrubs and forests at elevations greater than 1,500 meters or 4,921 feet.

Ecology

''Perognathus alticolus'' can be found in

Ponderosa pine ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is the ...

forest and open pine forest with bracken ferns ''

Pteridium aquilinum ''Pteridium aquilinum'' (bracken, brake or common bracken), also known as eagle fern, is a species of fern occurring in temperate and subtropical regions in both hemispheres. Originally native to Eurasia and North America, the extreme lightness o ...

'', in wooded habitats that contain

Joshua tree ''Yucca brevifolia'' is a plant species belonging to the genus ''Yucca''. It is tree-like in habit, which is reflected in its common names: Joshua tree, yucca palm, tree yucca, and palm tree yucca. This monocotyledonous tree is native to the ar ...

and pinyon-juniper woodland, and in grasslands with scattered Ponderosa pine. They can also be found in

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...

, coastal-sage, and areas with an abundance of ''

Salsola ''Salsola'' is a genus of the subfamily Salsoloideae in the family Amaranthaceae. The genus ''sensu stricto'' is distributed in central and southwestern Asia, North Africa, and the Mediterranean. A common name of various members of this genus and ...

'' .

Sources

Perognathus Endemic fauna of California Fauna of the Western United States Fauna of the California chaparral and woodlands San Bernardino Mountains Endangered fauna of California Mammals described in 1894 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN {{Heteromyidae-stub