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MammalingSpecies accountsRodents › Heteromyidae

Narrow-skulled Pocket Mouse

Chaetodipus artus
LC · Least concern Rodentia Heteromyidae
Size
7-8 cm + tail 8-10 cm
Weight
15 to 25 g
Activity
Nocturnal
Sociability
Solitary

Description

It is a notably narrow skull mice mouse, a trait that gives it its name and that distinguishes it morphologically from the rest of the same genus related species present in northwestern Mexico. It lives in dry drizzle and dry tropical forest of a fraction of the Mexican Pacific, where it shares habitat with other species of mice mice from which it differs mainly by cranial details difficult to appreciate without capture. Like the rest of its genre, it stores seed in external bags covered with hair on both sides of the mouth, and spends the day underground to avoid extreme desert heat.

How to identify it

Small rodent, gray brown fur, noticeably narrower skull compared to other related species, and long tail with terminal mouse. It differs from other species of Bayon mouse in its area mainly by that narrower skull, a feature that in practice requires capture and measurement to confirm.

Signs and tracks

Small footprint with lengthy rear legs, 1.5-2 cm, with coupled jump marks typical of desert biped rodents. Small and lengthy feces, 4-6 mm, left dispersed near the strawberry. Excavate simple strawberries in loose soil, with the entrance often covered during the day.

Habitat and range

Matorral arid and dry tropical forest, from low lands to medium cotes.

Diet

Granivorous, it feeds mainly on seeds, complemented with succulent vegetation and occasional insect.

Behaviour

Solitary and strictly nocturnal, it remains in its nursery during the hours of daytime heat.

Conservation

Its populations are considered stable in most of its area of distribution.

Threats

It does not face significant threats at species level; locally suffers habitat loss due to agricultural expansion.

Other accounts in Heteromyidae

See all species accounts for rodents · Full species index

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