The Jaliscan Spiny Pocket Mouse is a spiny-furred mouse endemic to a very specific fragment of mountain forest in western Mexico, where it lives hidden in a habitat type that is becoming increasingly rare in that region of the country. Like the rest of its genus, the fur on its back is bristled with stiff, flattened hairs that give it a rough feel, quite distinct from that of a smooth-coated rodent. Its scientific name, meaning showy or striking in Latin, likely refers to some prominent feature of its colouring noted by those who first described it. It lives exclusively in the mountains of the state of Jalisco, occupying one of the smallest ranges of any rodent endemic to western Mexico.
A small-to-medium rodent with dorsal fur bristling with stiff, flattened, spiny hairs, paler on the belly, a long tail, and somewhat elongated hind feet. It is distinguished from other rodents in the area by the spiny texture of its dorsal coat and its restricted distribution in the mountains of Jalisco.
Small tracks, 1.5-2 cm, showing 4 fore toes and 5 hind toes. Small, elongated droppings, 5-7 mm, left scattered along undergrowth paths. It digs shallow burrows under roots or fallen logs, with the entrance semi-hidden among the leaf litter, and leaves small accumulations of gnawed seed hulls beside stones or logs used as regular feeding posts.
Pine-oak forest and humid mountain forest with dense undergrowth, usually between 1500 and 2800 m altitude. Endemic to a very small area of the mountains of the state of Jalisco, in western Mexico.
Granivorous, feeding mainly on fallen seeds, supplemented with fruit and the occasional invertebrate from the forest floor.
Solitary and nocturnal, with a home range centred on its system of shallow undergrowth burrows.
Its populations are considered to be in decline due to the ongoing loss of the mountain forest on which it depends, with a very restricted and fragmented distribution in the mountains of Jalisco.
Deforestation and fragmentation of pine-oak forest and humid mountain forest caused by logging and land-use changes in the mountains of Jalisco.
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