Ord's kangaroo rat (''Dipodomys ordii'') is a
kangaroo rat native to western
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
, specifically the
Great Plains
The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...
and the
Great Basin, with its range extending from extreme southern
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
to central
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
.
Ord's kangaroo rat has a fifth toe on its hip feet, which distinguishes it from ''
Dipodomys elator''. It is bicolored with gold-brown dorsal hair and a white stomach. It has a long tail with a bushy tip, and is dark dorsally and ventrally with a white lateral stripe. Its hind feet are modified for jumping, and exceed 35 mm in length, and its total length exceeds 240 mm. Its tail is usually less than 160 mm, distinguishing it from ''D. elator'' (which exceeds 160 mm).
Though a common species in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, the population in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
is considered endangered.
Taxonomy
The currently accepted scientific name for Ord's kangaroo rat is ''Dipodomys ordii'' Woodhouse. It belongs to the family Heteromyidae, kangaroo rats and mice. Hall
[Hall, E. Raymond. 1981. The mammals of North America. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. New York: John Wiley and Sons] listed 35 subspecies, but Kennedy and Schnell reported many of these subspecies are probably not legitimate since they were based on the assumption of little sexual dimorphism in the species. It has now been established that sexual dimorphism within the taxon is considerable.
[
]
Distribution
Ord's kangaroo rat ranges from southern Alberta
Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...
and southern Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...
to southern Hidalgo, Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
, and from central Oregon
Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...
and eastern California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
east to central Kansas
Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
and Oklahoma
Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...
.[
Ord's kangaroo rats occur mainly in semiarid, open habitats. In Nevada, they were trapped in desert scrub and gravelly soil, flat pebble desert, and washes.][Eisenberg, John Frederick. 1963. The behavior of heteromyid rodents. University of California Publ. in Zoology: Vol. 69. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press] In Utah, Ord's kangaroo rats have an affinity for open shrublands and grasslands on sandy soils.[ In southeastern Idaho, big sagebrush/crested wheatgrass (''Agropyron cristatum'') range, most Ord's kangaroo rat captures occurred on disturbed sites or areas of sparse cover: Russian thistle (''Salsola kali''), cheatgrass (''Bromus tectorum''), and green rabbitbrush (''Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus''), followed by disturbed areas seeded to crested wheatgrass, then undisturbed big sagebrush.][ In western South Dakota, Ord's kangaroo rats are associated with black-tailed prairie dog (''Cynomys ludovicianus'') towns.][ In Wyoming, Ord's kangaroo rats are abundant in sand dune communities where vegetation is greater than tall and bare soil exceeds 40%.][ In Colorado, Ord's kangaroo rats were primarily captured in open areas with firm soil. Firm or lightly compacted soils are needed for burrow construction; highly compacted soils are too hard for them to dig.][ In areas of desert pavement or tough clay soils in the Trans-Pecos region of Texas, Ord's kangaroo rats are confined to pockets of windblown sand and alluvial soils along arroyos.][
Strong intraspecific competition and little interspecific competition occurs among ''Dipodomys'' species.][ In New Mexico, where Ord's kangaroo rats are sympatric with Merriam's kangaroo rats (''D. merriamii''), Ord's kangaroo rats were mostly captured in grassy microhabitats, and Merriam's kangaroo rats were captured more often around creosotebush.][ Herbicide defoliation of shrubs (for rangeland improvement) reduced live canopy cover of creosotebush and resulted in an increase in bush muhly (''Muhlenbergia porteri''). After treatment, Ord's kangaroo rats replaced Merriam's kangaroo rats as the dominant rodent. This was suggested to be due to the change in habitat structure to open grass.][
Removal experiments to establish single species populations of kangaroo rats were unsuccessful, since many kangaroo rats are transient and quickly occupy vacated habitats.][ Only one adult occupies a given burrow system, except for a brief period during breeding activity. Little territoriality occurs above ground except near burrow entrances, which are defended.][
In New Mexico, Ord's kangaroo rat annual home ranges in mesquite averaged .][ In Nevada sagebrush/grassland, Ord's kangaroo rat home ranges were estimated as by the circular method and by the principal component method. Home range movements increased through spring and again in late fall and early winter. No significant difference was found between male and female Ord's kangaroo rat home ranges; however, female home ranges decreased during reproductive periods.][ Recapture data for Ord's kangaroo rats in Arizona indicated they do not travel far from the home range; most Ord's kangaroo rats were recaptured within of the original capture site. Data on the lifetime movements of individuals indicated most were recaptured within of the original capture site.][
In sagebrush in the Great Basin, Ord's kangaroo rats reach an average density of 113 rats per 10 ha.][West, N. E. 1983. Great Basin-Colorado plateau sagebrush semi-desert. In: Temperate deserts and semi-deserts. Amsterdam; Oxford; New York: Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company: 331–349. (Goodall, David W., ed. in chief; Ecosystems of the world; vol. 5)] In intermountain salt-desert shrublands, the population density averaged 28 individuals per 10 ha in shadscale communities and 135 individuals per 10 ha in black greasewood (''Sarcobatus vermiculatus'') communities.[West, Neil E. 1983. Intermountain salt-desert shrubland. In: West, Neil E., ed. Temperate deserts and semi-deserts. Amsterdam; Oxford; New York: Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company; 1983: 375–397. (Goodall, David W., ed. in chief.; Ecosystems of the world; vol. 5)]
Plant communities
Ord's kangaroo rats occur in communities on sandy soils, including semiarid grasslands, mixed-grass prairie, shrub- and scrublands, and pinyon (''Pinus'' spp.)-juniper (''Juniperus'' spp.) woodlands.[ In Canada,
They are confined to open, sandy areas with sparse covers of sagebrush ('' Artemisia'' spp.), snowberry ('' Symphoricarpos'' spp.), rose ('' Rosa'' spp.), creeping juniper ('' J. horizontalis'') and buffaloberry ('' Shepherdia'' spp.); the distribution of Ord's kangaroo rats appears to be closely associated with that of lanceleaved breadroot ('' Psoralea lanceolata'').][Banfield, A. W. F. 1974. The mammals of Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press] In Oregon, Ord's kangaroo rats occur in big sagebrush (''A. tridentata''), western juniper ('' J. occidentalis''), and greasewood ('' Sarcobatus'' spp.) communities. In Idaho, they are most abundant in
juniper woodlands with rabbitbrush ('' Chrysothamnus'' spp.) and winterfat ('' Krascheninnikovia lanata'') in the understory,[ but also occur on shadscale ('' Atriplex confertifolia'') range.][ In Utah, Ord's kangaroo rats have an affinity for sagebrush, pinyon-juniper, and saltbush ('']Atriplex
''Atriplex'' () is a plant genus of about 250 species, known by the common names of saltbush and orache (; also spelled orach). It belongs to the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae ''s.l.''.
The genus is quite variable and ...
'' spp.) communities.[ In Nevada, Ord's kangaroo rats are associated with big sagebrush communities.][Welch, Bruce L.; McArthur, E. Durant. 1985. Big sagebrush—its taxonomy, origin, distribution and utility. In: Fisser, Herbert G., ed. Wyoming shrublands: Proceedings, 14th Wyoming shrub ecology workshop; 1985 May 29–30; Rock Springs, WY. Laramie, WY: University of Wyoming, Department of Range Management, Wyoming Shrub Ecology Workshop: 3–19] In Colorado, Ord's kangaroo rats comprised 19% of small mammal captures in pinyon-juniper forest, scattered pinyon-juniper, and pinyon-juniper in canyon habitats.[ In New Mexico, Ord's kangaroo rats are found in
yucca ('' Yucca'' spp.), oak ('']Quercus
An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...
'' spp.), mesquite ('' Prosopis'' spp.), saltbush, and creosotebush (''Larrea tridentata
''Larrea tridentata'', called creosote bush, greasewood, and chaparral is a medicinal herb. In Sonora, it is more commonly called ''hediondilla''; Spanish ''hediondo'' = "smelly". It is a flowering plant in the family Zygophyllaceae. The specific ...
'') communities.[Mares, M. A.; Hulse, A. C. 1977. Patterns of some vertebrate communities in creosote bush deserts. In: Mabry, T. J.; Hunziker, J. H.; DiFeo, D. R., Jr., eds. Creosote bush: Biology and chemistry of Larrea in New World deserts. U.S./IBP Synthesis Series 6. Stroudsburg, PA: Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross, Inc.: 209–226] They are particularly abundant in mesquite sand dunes.[ In Texas, Ord's kangaroo rats occur in honey mesquite ('' P. glandulosa''), sand sagebrush ('' Artemisia filifolia''), yucca, sand shinnery oak ('' Q. havardii''), and broom snakeweed ('']Gutierrezia sarothrae
''Gutierrezia sarothrae'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names broom snakeweed, broomweed, snakeweed, and matchweed. It is a subshrub native to much of the western half of North America, from western ...
'') communities.[ In southwestern Kansas, Ord's kangaroo rats are characteristic residents of sand sagebrush prairie.][Sexson, Mark L. 1983. Destruction of sandsage prairie in southwest Kansas. In: Proceedings, 7th North American prairie conference; 1980 August 4–6; Springfield, MO. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri: 113–115.]
Cover requirements
Even in shrub-dominated communities, heteromyids including Ord's kangaroo rat tend to concentrate their activity in open areas between shrubs.[
Ord's kangaroo rats dig shallow burrows in loose sand in the sides of natural sand dunes, riverbanks, or road cuts. The one central burrow is surrounded by trails to feeding areas.][ The burrows have 3-in-diameter (7.6-cm-dia) openings. Small mounds are usually formed outside the entrance to the burrow.][ The burrow opening is usually plugged with soil during the day to maintain temperature and humidity within tolerable levels.][Lechleitner, R. R. 1969. Wild mammals of Colorado. Boulder, CO: Pruett Publishing Company.] They scoop out small, shallow depressions to be used as dusting spots.[
]
Lifecycle
Ord's kangaroo rats are nocturnal, and spend their days in deep burrows.[ Males are usually more abundant and active than females. Activity increases under cloud cover, particularly in winter.][ Ord's kangaroo rats are active year-round in Texas, but further north, they are seldom seen above ground in cold weather.][Whitaker, John O., Jr. 1980. National Audubon Society field guide to North American mammals. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.]
Ord's kangaroo rat breeding season varies with subspecies and area. Usually, one or two peak breeding seasons occur
per year, and in many areas, some breeding activity occurs year-round.[Smith, H. Duane; Jorgensen, Clive D. 1975. Reproductive biology of North American desert rodents. In: Prakash, I.; Ghosh, P. K., eds. Rodents in desert environments. Monographiae Biologicae Vol. 28. The Hague, Netherlands: Dr. W. Junk: 305-330] The size of ovaries is significantly positively correlated with temperature.[ The average length of the breeding period is 6.8 months. In Texas, males are fertile all year, with peak reproductive activity occurring between August and March. Higher reproductive rates are associated with increased precipitation and food supply and decreased population density. In a favorable growing season, most females breed at least twice a year, but when population density increased, females did not breed until November though growing conditions and food supplies were favorable.][ In Arizona, the lowest proportion of males in breeding condition (about 60% of the male population) occurred in January and September–October. The lowest number of females in breeding condition occurred in November, but at least a few females were breeding at that time.][ In Oklahoma, the two peaks in breeding activity are August–September and December through March.][ In many areas, the onset of breeding activity follows a period of rainfall the previous month.][
Gestation lasts 28 to 32 days; one to six embryos are usually found. In captivity, the maximum litter size was six young.][ The maximum number of litters produced per year by a captive female was five, the maximum number of litters per lifetime was 9, and the maximum number of young per female's lifetime was 38. The longest-lived Ord's kangaroo rat in captivity is a wild caught female who lived until 9 yr 1 months. Brown and Zeng calculated an annual death rate of 0.35 for all age classes.][
]
Food habits
Ord's kangaroo rats are primarily granivorous and herbivorous. They consume a variety of foods, but most commonly eat the seeds of grasses and forbs, green vegetation, and dry vegetation. They occasionally consume animal material, mostly arthropods
Arthropods ( ) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an arthropod exoskeleton, exoskeleton with a cuticle made of chitin, often Mineralization (biology), mineralised with calcium carbonate, a body with differentiated (Metam ...
. In Colorado, seeds comprised 74% of their diets, forbs 13%, grasses and sedges 5%, arthropods 4%, and fungi and mosses 2%.[
In southeastern Idaho big sagebrush/crested wheatgrass range, Ord's kangaroo rats consumed (in order of proportion) pollen, arthropods, plant parts (Asteraceae) and crested wheatgrass seeds.][ A study of Ord's kangaroo rat foods in Texas found the primary foods consumed included seeds of sand paspalum (''Paspalum stramineum''), honey mesquite, sand bluestem (''Andropogon gerardii var. paucipilus''), common ragweed (''Ambrosia artemisiifolia''), and rose-ring gaillardia (''Gaillardia pulchella'').][ In Texas, seeds of creosotebush, gramas (''Bouteloua'' spp.) and dropseeds (''Sporobolus'' spp.) formed the major portion of Ord's kangaroo rat diets.][Schmidly, David J. 1977. The mammals of Trans-Pecos Texas: including Big Bend National Park and Guadalupe Mountains National Park. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University] Seeds of mesquite, Russian-thistle, sunflowers (''Helianthus'' spp.), and sandbur (''Cenchrus'' spp.) are also major dietary items.[
Harvested seeds are transported in cheek pouches to burrows and consumed or cached there. Ord's kangaroo rats also cache seed in scattered shallow holes; this activity sometimes results in seedling emergence. They are easily able to retrieve shallowly buried seeds. A single Ord's kangaroo rat may make tens to hundreds of caches, each with tens to hundreds of seeds.][Longland, William S. 1995. Desert rodents in disturbed shrub communities and their effects on plant recruitment. In: Roundy, Bruce A.; McArthur, E. Durant; Haley, Jennifer S.; Mann, David K., compilers. Proceedings: wildland shrub and arid land restoration symposium; 1993 October 19–21; Las Vegas, NV. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-GTR-315. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station: 209–215]
Kangaroo rats are physiologically adapted to arid environments. Most water is obtained from seeds and succulent plants. They drink water when it is available, but apparently do not require free water.[
]
Predators
In the Great Basin sagebrush, intermountain sagebrush steppe, and intermountain salt desert shrublands, potential predators of Ord's kangaroo rats include coyotes (''Canis latrans''), kit fox (''Vulpes velox''), bobcats (''Lynx rufus''), badgers (''Taxidea taxus''), long-eared owls (''Asio otus''), short-eared owls (''Asio flammeus''), great horned owls (''Bubo virginianus''), burrowing owls (''Athene cunicularia''), hawks (Buteonidae and Falconidae), rattlesnakes (''Crotalus'' spp.), and gopher snakes (''Pituophis melanoleucus'').[West, N. E. 1983. Western Intermountain sagebrush steppe. In: Temperate deserts and semi-deserts. Amsterdam; Oxford; New York: Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company. 352–374. (Goodall, David W., ed. in chief; Ecosystems of the world; vol. 5)] In Idaho, the remains of Ord's kangaroo rats were found in up to 25% of prairie falcon (''Falco mexicanus'') nests. The three-year average frequency of Ord's kangaroo rat remains in prairie falcon nests was 4%.[
]
References
External links
*View th
kangaroo rat genome
in Ensembl.
*
{{Authority control
Ord's Kangaroo Rat
Fauna of the Great Basin
Fauna of the Plains-Midwest (United States)
Fauna of the Western United States
Rodents of the United States
Rodents of Mexico
Mammals described in 1853
Taxa named by Samuel Washington Woodhouse