Pemberton's deer mouse (''Peromyscus pembertoni'') lived on

San Pedro Nolasco Island San Pedro Nolasco Island, sometimes called Seal Island, is a small and rugged Mexican island in the Gulf of California. It is 4.2 km long by 1 km wide, and lies 15 km from the nearest point of the Mexican coast and about 28 k ...

() in the

Gulf of California The Gulf of California ( es, Golfo de California), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Bermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja C ...

. The last 12 specimens were collected on 26 December 1931.

Etymology

The generic name comes from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

''pero'' = "boots", ''mys'' meaning "mouse", hence the "mouse with boots", referring to the white feet.

Description

''P. pembertoni'' is a medium-sized deer mouse. No significant sexual dimorphism is evident. The tail is usually longer than the head, and the body is bicolored. It is well-haired, and tufted at the end. The hind feet are small and similar in length to the ear, but sometimes longer. The skull is medium-sized, and auditory bullae are not greatly inflated. The upper parts of the pelage are medium brown; the sides are lighter brown with a broad orange lateral line extending from the cheek to the hindquarters; the under parts are whitish, the ankles dusky gray, and the feet whitish below ankle.

General information

''Peromyscus'' species, also known as deer mice, are common North American mammals. They tend to occupy in range from Alaska to Central America in many different habitats. Because they are so abundant in nature, these mice constitute a large component of the Nearctic ecosystems. These mice have great importance to scientific research, both the wild type and genetic variants have been used for laboratory researches. They are not closely related to the house mouse and the rats. Pemberton's deer mouse is a very cold-tolerant species; they live and survive in temperatures between 22 and 25 °C. They are usually sexually mature by 55 days of age. Gestation is 23 days, except in lactating, females when it is delayed by four to six days to 28 or 30 days. ''P. pembertoni'' breeds in mated pairs.

Habitat

This species is poorly known. The only island that supported two different species of ''Peromyscus'' - ''P. pembertoni'' and ''P. boylii'' - was San Pedro Nolasco. Besides these two species, no other mammals occurred on the island. They were collected on a steep hill covered with grass on the eastern side of the island. The dominant plants found there were tree torote, pitayita, liga, Adam's tree, leather plant, fishhook cactus, malva rosa, chain fruit cholla, cardon, slipper plant, jojoba, and organpipe cactus.

Reproduction

The social behavior of ''P. pembertoni'' is unknown. Breeding probably occurred throughout most of the year, although the majority of young would have been born in spring and early summer. Breeding may have ceased during winter months.

Communication and perception

Like other ''Peromyscus'' species, they probably had keen eyesight and vision, and used chemical cues extensively in communication.

Predation

''P. pembertoni'' would have escaped predation through its nocturnal and secretive habits.

Lifespan

The longevity of ''P. pembertoni'' was probably short, with it unlikely that more than a few would live more than one year under natural conditions.

External source

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q727128 Extinct rodents Pemberton's deer mouse Pemberton's deer mouse Pemberton's deer mouse Rodent extinctions since 1500 Pemberton's deer mouse Mammals described in 1932