American bush rats

American bush rats
Bushtail rat ( Neotoma cinerea )
Systematics
Subordination : Mouse relatives (Myomorpha) Superfamily : Mice-like (Muroidea) Family : Burrowers (Cricetidae) Subfamily : Neotominae Tribe : Neotomini Genre : American bush rats
Scientific name
Neotoma
Say & Ord , 1825

The American bush rats ( Neotoma ) are a genus of New World mice , of which 22 to 23 species are known.

description

The body length is between 150 and 230 mm, depending on the species, the tail length between 75 and 240 mm and the weight between 199 and 450 grams. The fur can be both soft and a little rough. The delicate coloring of the top varies from light, gray-sand-colored to dark gray and cinnamon-sand colored. The underside is pure white, light gray or sand colored. The species Neotoma chrysomelas shows a bright reddish brown fur color.

distribution and habitat

American bush rats are native to large parts of North and Central America, their range extends from northwestern Canada to Nicaragua . They inhabit a variety of habitats including hot, dry deserts, humid jungles, and rocky slopes.

Way of life and food

Some species of American bush rats create complex structures or dwellings that they pad with branches, stems, leaves, bones, stones or other material. The dwellings are often placed on the ground, on rocks or at the base of trees. They are inhabited by several generations and over the years can reach dimensions of two meters both in height and in diameter. The burrows are designed in such a way that predators can hardly get into them without getting injured. American bush rats are nocturnal loners. They are very good at climbing, but they usually do not climb high in the trees. Their diet consists of roots, stems, leaves and seeds. Occasionally invertebrates enrich the food supply. The American bush rats do not often drink water and in the hot desert regions they get their hydration needs from the water stored in cacti and other plants.

Reproduction

Sexual maturity occurs at the age of two months for the species Neotoma lepida and at the age of two years for the species Neotoma cinerea . The breeding season extends over the entire year. Depending on the species, the number of litters varies from one to seven. The gestation period is 30 to 40 days. The boys open their eyes after 21 days and are weaned after four weeks. After eight weeks, they will reach adult weight.

American bush rats and humans

Some species prefer to collect shiny objects for their nests. If you see something more beautiful than what you are currently wearing, leave the old one behind and take the new one with you. They owe the names “trade rats” or “pack rats” in English to this property - a term that is also used for people with messie syndrome .

Several species that are endemic to small islands are threatened. These include Neotoma anthonyi and Neotoma bunkeri , both of which may have already become extinct. The reasons for this are the destruction of their habitat and the stalking of introduced feral cats .

Importance for research

The petrified debris of the American bush rats ( rat rubbish heaps ) plays a central role in paleo-ecological and paleo-climatic research over the American Southwest .

Systematics

Musser and Carleton (2005) divide the genus into three sub-genera with the following species:

• Subgenus Neotoma
  • The white-throated bush rat ( Neotoma albigula ) lives in the southwestern United States (from Colorado on) and in northern Mexico . The population living on Datil Island in the Gulf of California was previously considered a separate species as N. varia , but is now classified as a subspecies of N. albigula .
  • The Tamaulipan bush rat ( Neotoma angustapalata ) lives in the Mexican states of Tamaulipas and San Luis Potosí .
  • The Bryant bush rat ( Neotoma bryanti ) is endemic to Isla de Cerros Island , also near Baja California. This species is considered critically endangered.
  • The Coronados bush rat ( Neotoma bryanti bunkeri ) was a subspecies of the Bryant bush rat, which is only known from the Islas Coronado archipelago near Baja California. According to the IUCN, it is considered extinct.
  • The Todos Santos bush rat ( Neotoma bryanti anthonyi ) was a subspecies of the Bryant bush rat known only from the island of Islas de Todos Santos near Baja California (Mexico). It applies, according to IUCN as extinct ( extinct ).
  • The San Martin bush rat ( Neotoma martinensis ) was a subspecies of the Bryant bush rat that was endemic to the island of Isla San Martin near Baja California. It applies, according to IUCN as extinct ( extinct ).
  • The Nicaraguan bush rat ( Neotoma chrysomelas ) is native to Honduras and Nicaragua . This species shows a bright reddish-brown fur coloration.
  • The Arizona bush rat ( Neotoma devia ) lives in the US state of Arizona and the adjacent parts of Mexico ( Sonora ).
  • The eastern bush rat ( Neotoma floridana ) lives in the central and eastern United States from Colorado and Texas or Virginia to southeast to Florida. A subspecies of its own, N. f. smalli , lives in the Florida Keys and is considered critically endangered.
  • The dark-footed bush rat ( Neotoma fuscipes ) is widespread in the mountainous regions of the eastern United States (from Oregon to California ).
  • The Goldman bush rat ( Neotoma goldmani ) lives in the central Mexican highlands.
  • The desert bush rat ( Neotoma lepida ) lives in the western USA (from Oregon and Utah ) to the Mexican peninsula Baja California.
  • The white-toothed bush rat ( Neotoma leucodon ) is native to the southwestern US states of Colorado, Arizona and Texas, as well as northern and central Mexico.
  • The big-eared bush rat ( Neotoma macrotis ) lives in California and Baja California.
  • The Allegheny bush rat ( Neotoma magister ) is common in much of the eastern United States (from Indiana and New York to Georgia ).
  • The Mexican bush rat ( Neotoma mexicana ) is distributed from the US states of Utah and Colorado via Mexico to Honduras.
  • The small-footed bush rat ( Neotoma micropus ) is widespread in the western USA (from Colorado and Kansas to south) to central Mexico.
  • The Nelson bush rat ( Neotoma nelsoni ) is only known from a small area in the Mexican state of Veracruz . The species is considered endangered.
  • The bolaños bush rat ( Neotoma palatina ) only lives in the Mexican state of Jalisco .
  • The Stephen bush rat ( Neotoma stephensi ) occurs in the US states of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico.
• Subgenus Teonoma
  • The bush tail rat ( Neotoma cinerea ) lives in western North America. It is the largest species and differs among other things by the bushy tail.
• Subgenus Teanopus
  • The Sonora bush rat ( Neotoma phenax ) lives in the Mexican states of Sonora and Sinaloa . It is considered a very primitive species.

In current systematics (Ceballos, 2014; Pardiñas et al., 2017) the island bush rat ( Neotoma insularis ) is also regarded as an independent species. It was not sighted during the last search in 1997 and is believed to be extinct. It was endemic to Isla Ángel de la Guarda in the Gulf of California .

The Magdalena rat ( Xenomys nelsoni ) and Allen's bush rat ( Hodomys alleni ) are sometimes also included in this genus.

Two fossil species are also known: Neotoma pygmaea and Neotoma findleyi from the Young Pleistocene .

literature

• Julio L. Betancourt, Thomas R. Van Devender, Paul S. Martin (eds.): Packrat Middens. The Last 40,000 Years of Biotic Change. University of Arizona Press, Tucson AZ 1990, ISBN 0-8165-1115-2 .
• Andrew Duff, Ann Lawson: Mammals of the World. A checklist. Yale University Press, New Haven CT 2004, ISBN 0-300-10398-0 .
• Roland W. Kays, Don E. Wilson: Mammals of North America. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ et al. 2002, ISBN 0-691-08890-X .
• Guy G. Musser, Michael D. Carleton: Muroidea. In: Don E. Wilson , DeeAnn M. Reeder (Eds.): Mammal Species of the World. A taxonomic and geographic Reference. 2 volumes. 3rd edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 , pp. 894-1531.
• Ronald M. Nowak 1999 Walker's Mammals of the World. 2 volumes. 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD et al. 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 .
• Gerardo Ceballos : Mammals of Mexico . Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014, pp. 297-316

Web links

Commons : American Bush Rats ( Neotoma )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• "Desert Woodrats" at DesertUSA.com
• Pack Rat Piles: Rodent rubbish provides ice age thermometer ( Memento of August 29, 2007 on the Internet Archive ), Science News

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Gerardo Ceballos: Mammals of Mexico . Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014, pp. 301-302
2. ↑ Ulyses Pardiñas, Dennisse Ruelas, Jorge Brito, Lisa Bradley, Robert Bradley, Nicté Ordóñez Garza, Boris Kryštufek, Joseph Cook, Erika Cuéllar Soto, Jorge Salazar-Bravo, Gregory Shenbrot, Elisandra Chiquito, Alexandre Percequillo, Joyce Prado, Rudolf Jim Patton & Livia León-Paniagua: Family Cricetidae (True Hamsters, Voles, Lemmings and New World Rats and Mice) In: Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 7: Rodents II, Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2017, ISBN 978-84-16728-04-6 , p. 362
3. ^ Harris, Arthur H. (1984). Two New Species of Late Pleistocene Woodrats (Cricetidae: Neotoma) from New Mexico. Journal of Mammalogy 65 (4): 560-566.