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Onychomys
Grasshopper mice are rodents of the genus ''Onychomys'', occurring in North America. They feed on insects and other arthropods. Biology The three species in this genus of New World mice are only distantly related to the common house mouse, ''Mus musculus''. They are endemic to the United States and Mexico. The southern grasshopper mouse has around a long body and a tail that is generally long. Its behavior is distinct from other mice. It is a carnivorous rodent, dining on insects (such as grasshoppers), worms, spiders, centipedes, scorpions, snakes, and even other mice. It also stalks its prey in the manner of a cat, sneaking up quietly, and defends its territory by "howling" like a small wolf. The grasshopper mouse is known to be immune to various venoms released by its prey (scorpions, snakes, etc.). Grasshopper mice are nocturnal and avoid exposure to bright light. Ecology Diet Grasshopper mice prey on highly venomous arthropods. One example is centipedes that normally ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Onychomys Leucogaster
The northern grasshopper mouse (''Onychomys leucogaster'') is a North American carnivorous rodent of the family Cricetidae. It ranges over much of the western part of the continent, from southern Saskatchewan and central Washington to Tamaulipas in northeast Mexico. Description The northern grasshopper mouse is found in North America, primarily in dry areas. They are stocky: on average they are long and about in weight. The tail is often less than 30% of the total body length, whereas other mice tend to have longer tails. It has two main color phases: grayish (or black in northeastern bits of its range) and cinnamon with white below. Unlike most rodents, this one has a mostly carnivorous diet mainly consisting of small insects, other mice, and even snakes; no more than a quarter of its diet is plant-based. Vegetation is consumed in greatest amounts around midwinter. This rodent is also nocturnal and especially active on moonless or cloudy nights. Throughout the night, the g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mearns's Grasshopper Mouse
Mearns's grasshopper mouse or the Chihuahuan grasshopper mouse (''Onychomys arenicola'') is a grasshopper mouse found in southwestern New Mexico, West Texas, and north-central Mexico. They are similar to '' Onychomys torridus'', but differ in karyotype and size. This mouse is smaller in every regard except for the nasal length of the skull. They are found in semiarid habitat, prairie, and scrub. They feed largely on insects and other invertebrates, including scorpions. They also feed on small muroid rodents and pocket mice Perognathinae is a subfamily of rodents consisting of two genera of pocket mice. Most species live in complex burrows within the deserts and grasslands of western North America, They feed mostly on seeds and other plant parts, which they carry i .... References *Nowak, R. M. 1999. Walker's Mammals of the World, Vol. 2. Johns Hopkins University Press, London. {{Taxonbar, from=Q943069 Onychomys Mammals described in 1896 Taxa named by Edgar Alexand ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Onychomys Torridus
The southern grasshopper mouse or scorpion mouse (''Onychomys torridus'') is a species of predatory rodent in the family Cricetidae, native to Mexico and the states of Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah in the United States. Notable for its resistance to venom, it routinely preys on the highly venomous Arizona bark scorpion. Description The southern grasshopper mouse is a robust, small, nocturnal species that typically forms monogamous pairs. They have a short tail, growing to a total length of . The head, back and sides are pinkish- or grayish-brown while the underparts are white, the two colors being distinctly separated. The tail is club-shaped, short and broad, the anterior part being the same color as the body and the tip being white. Biology The southern grasshopper mouse feeds almost entirely on arthropods, such as beetles, grasshoppers and scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the Order (biology), order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rodents
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 native to all major land masses except for Antarctica, and several oceanic islands, though they have subsequently been introduced to most of these land masses by human activity. Rodents are extremely diverse in their ecology and lifestyles and can be found in almost every terrestrial habitat, including human-made environments. Species can be arboreal, fossorial (burrowing), saltatorial/ricochetal (leaping on their hind legs), or semiaquatic. However, all rodents share several morphological features, including having only a single upper and lower pair of ever-growing incisors. Well-known rodents include mice, rats, squirrels, prairie dogs, porcupines, beavers, guinea pigs, and hamsters. Once included with rodents, rabbits, hares, and p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New World Mouse
The New World rats and mice are a group of related rodents found in North and South America. They are extremely diverse in appearance and ecology, ranging from the tiny ''Baiomys'' to the large '' Kunsia''. They represent one of the few examples of muroid rodents (along with the voles) in North America, and the only example of muroid rodents to have made it into South America. The New World rats and mice are often considered part of a single subfamily, Sigmodontinae, but the recent trend among muroid taxonomists is to recognize three separate subfamilies. This strategy better represents the extreme diversity of species numbers and ecological types. Some molecular phylogenetic studies have suggested that the New World rats and mice are not a monophyletic group, but this is yet to be confirmed. Their closest relatives are clearly the hamsters and voles. The New World rats and mice are divided into 3 subfamilies, 12 tribes, and 84 genera. Classification *Family Cricetidae - h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gray Wolf
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though grey wolves, as popularly understood, only comprise naturally-occurring wild subspecies. The wolf is the largest wild extant member of the family Canidae, and is further distinguished from other '' Canis'' species by its less pointed ears and muzzle, as well as a shorter torso and a longer tail. The wolf is nonetheless related closely enough to smaller ''Canis'' species, such as the coyote and the golden jackal, to produce fertile hybrids with them. The wolf's fur is usually mottled white, brown, grey, and black, although subspecies in the arctic region may be nearly all white. Of all members of the genus ''Canis'', the wolf is most specialized for cooperative game hunting as demonstrated by its physical adaptations to tackling large p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toxin
A toxin is a naturally occurring poison produced by metabolic activities of living cells or organisms. They occur especially as proteins, often conjugated. The term was first used by organic chemist Ludwig Brieger (1849–1919), derived from '' toxic''. Toxins can be small molecules, peptides, or proteins that are capable of causing disease on contact with or absorption by body tissues interacting with biological macromolecules such as enzymes or cellular receptors. They vary greatly in their toxicity, ranging from usually minor (such as a bee sting) to potentially fatal even at extremely low doses (such as botulinum toxin). Terminology Toxins are often distinguished from other chemical agents strictly based on their biological origin. Less strict understandings embrace naturally occurring inorganic toxins, such as arsenic. Other understandings embrace synthetic analogs of naturally occurring organic poisons as toxins, and may or may not embrace naturally oc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Forcipules
Forcipules are the modified, pincer-like, front legs of centipedes that are used to inject venom into prey. They are the only known examples of front legs acting as venom injectors. Nomenclature Forcipules go by a variety of names in both scientific and colloquial usages. They are sometimes known as poison claws or jaw legs, referencing their evolution from maxillipeds, a term which they are also sometimes known by in the context of centipedes (maxillipeds, maxillipedes). Other names include prehensors, telopodites, and forcipulae (singular forcipula). In the specific case in which the forcipules are used to inject venom, they are called toxicognaths (from ''toxic'' + the Greek '' gnathos'', jaw). The term forcipule references their similarity with forceps. Anatomy, systematics, and variation Forcipules evolved from the maxillipeds – front legs – of centipedes' last common ancestor A most recent common ancestor (MRCA), also known as a last common ancestor (LCA), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Claw
A claw is a curved, pointed appendage found at the end of a toe or finger in most amniotes (mammals, reptiles, birds). Some invertebrates such as beetles and spiders have somewhat similar fine, hooked structures at the end of the leg or Arthropod leg, tarsus for gripping a surface as they walk. The pincers of crabs, lobsters and scorpions, more formally known as their chelae, are sometimes called claws. A true claw is made of a hard protein called keratin. Claws are used to catch and hold prey in carnivorous mammals such as cats and dogs, but may also be used for such purposes as digging, climbing trees, self-defense and Personal grooming, grooming, in those and other species. Similar appendages that are flat and do not come to a sharp point are called nail (anatomy), nails instead. Claw-like projections that do not form at the end of digits but spring from other parts of the foot are properly named Spur (zoology), spurs. Tetrapods In tetrapods, claws are made of keratin and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Exoskeleton
An exoskeleton () . is a skeleton that is on the exterior of an animal in the form of hardened integument, which both supports the body's shape and protects the internal organs, in contrast to an internal endoskeleton (e.g. human skeleton, that of a human) which is enclosed underneath other soft tissues. Some large, hard and non-flexible protective exoskeletons are known as mollusc shell, shell or armour (anatomy), armour. Examples of exoskeletons in animals include the arthropod exoskeleton, cuticle skeletons shared by arthropods (insects, chelicerates, myriapods and crustaceans) and tardigrades, as well as the corallite, skeletal cups formed by hardened secretion of stony corals, the test (biology), test/tunic of sea squirts and sea urchins, and the prominent mollusc shell shared by snails, bivalvia, clams, tusk shells, chitons and nautilus. Some vertebrate animals, such as the turtle, have both an endoskeleton and a turtle shell, protective exoskeleton. Role Exoskeletons c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arizona Bark Scorpion
The Arizona bark scorpion (''Centruroides sculpturatus'', once included in '' Centruroides exilicauda'') is a small light brown scorpion common to the Sonoran Desert in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. An adult male can reach of body length, while a female is slightly smaller, with a maximum length of . Predators Arizona bark scorpions are eaten by a wide variety of animals such as pallid bats, birds (especially owls), reptiles, and other vertebrates. Some examples include spiders, snakes, peccaries, rodents, and other scorpions. Development, pesticides and collecting scorpions for research or the pet trade also reduces the bark scorpion population. The painful and potentially deadly venom of Arizona bark scorpions has little effect on grasshopper mice. Scientists have found the scorpion toxin acts as an analgesic rather than a pain stimulant in grasshopper mice. Life cycle Arizona bark scorpions have a gestation period of several months, are b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
