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Spiny pocket mouse - PEROGNATHUS SPINATUS
Possibly Endangered
Class: Animals with Milk Glands (Mammalia)
The Name "Mouse": "Mouse" comes from the Old English word "mus," for the animal.
Location: California and Baja California in Mexico.
Habitat: Desert; rocky slopes
Description: The coat, which has many spiny hairs on the back, is pale yellow mixed with brown. The tail has longer hair on top. The head is pointed and the ears are small. At the sides of the mouth there are cheek pouches. This species has 20 teeth and the toes are all clawed. This animal is about three inches long, with a tail more than doubling that length. It weighs less than an ounce.
Behavior: Like the other pocket mice, this species is typically nocturnal. During the day it remains inside the burrow it has dug in the ground, and by night it emerges to feed on seeds. The cheek pouches are used for carrying extra food into special larder rooms dug below ground.
Reproduction: After a probable three to four week gestation, 2 to 6 young are born. They nurse for a few weeks. There is usually only one litter per year, but occasionally two.
Note: This genus has 25 species and numerous subspecies distributed from British Columbia to Mexico.
Go to the Rodents Page to learn more about all the gnawing animals.
Or go to the Mouse Index to study other
mice.
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