Cotton mouse
| Cotton mouse | ||||||||||||
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Cotton mouse ( Peromyscus gossypinus ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Peromyscus gossypinus | ||||||||||||
| ( LeConte , 1853) |
The cotton mouse ( Peromyscus gossypinus ) is a rodent in the genus of whitefoot mice found in North America.
features
Compared to other generic members, the species is large and robust. There is chestnut, dark brown, or gray-brown fur on the upper side, with the central areas of the back being the most intensely colored. The white underside is clearly demarcated. The cotton mouse has large, rounded, gray ears. Their sparsely hairy tail is brownish on top and white on the underside, although the division of some specimens is not clear. The morphological differences to other white-footed mice are marginal and mostly only recognizable by specialist staff.
The species reaches a head-body length of 71 to 116 mm, a tail length of 55 to 97 mm and a weight of 17 to 46 g. The hind feet are 16 to 26 mm long and the length of the ears is 10 to 21 mm. The tooth formula of the cotton mouse is I 1/1, C 0/0, P 0/0, M 3/3, which gives a total of 16 teeth.
distribution
The distribution area of the cotton mouse extends from the Gulf of Mexico to the east of Texas , to southeast Oklahoma , to southeast Missouri , to the south of Illinois and Kentucky as well as to southeast Virginia . The species is a typical inhabitant of the Great Dismal Swamp , the wetlands on the Chowan River and the southern Mississippi River . In addition to wetlands, the cotton mouse can be found in deciduous forests, on the edge of intensively used arable land, on extensively used fields, on sand dunes with bush vegetation or in salt savannahs . Most commonly, the species occurs in areas that have periodic flooding.
Way of life
The cotton mouse moves on the ground and climbs trees or other plants. It hides behind tree stumps, under wooden blocks, behind loose tree bark, under moss, in caves or crevices, in rarely used buildings or in holes in the ground that have been dug by turtles . The nest for rearing the offspring is usually elevated, up to 6 meters above the ground. For these burrows, leaves are woven with various plant fibers.
The individuals are omnivores , and at times up to ¾ of the food is of animal origin. Typical plant components of the diet are nuts, mushrooms, tree seeds and acorns. Animals eat snails, insects, spiders and other invertebrates . Territory sizes between 0.2 and 0.8 hectares were registered for the cotton mouse. It is mainly nocturnal. The swimming ability of the species is well developed.
With populations in Florida and Texas, females can produce offspring at any time of the year. In the northern part of the range, the mating season extends from March to October. Females that suckle the previous litter are on average 30 days pregnant , while other females give birth around 23 days after mating. At birth, the young are naked and blind. There are up to 7 offspring per litter, usually 3 to 5, which are suckled for three or four weeks. Young cotton mice are sexually mature a month or two after birth. Each generation can produce several litters. Most specimens live a year or less and the maximum lifespan in the wild is two years. Specimens in captivity could reach an age of 6 years. Several small to medium-sized predators are among the natural predators of the species.
Systematics
There have been proposals to have different populations on islands in the Gulf of Mexico as subspecies. Genetic studies failed to verify the boundaries between the hypothetical subspecies.
In the laboratory there were often hybrids with the common white-footed mouse ( Peromyscus leucopus ). In nature, however, crossings only occurred sporadically.
One of the suggested subspecies is the extinct Chadwick Beach cotton mouse .
Importance and threat
The cotton mouse has an important ecological role as a propagator of tree seeds. In agricultural areas, on the other hand, it is considered a pest if it eats grain, maize, cottonseed or soybeans . To do this, she visits granaries and other storage buildings. The cotton mouse is fought with mousetraps and poison baits.
There are no threats to the cotton mouse population. The population density is usually 2 to 10 individuals per hectare. In rare cases, up to 97 copies per hectare can occur. The species is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Don E. Wilson , DeeAnn M. Reeder (Ed.): Mammal Species of the World . A taxonomic and geographic Reference . 3. Edition. 2 volumes. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 (English, Peromyscus gossypinus ).
- ↑ a b c d Larry N. Brown: A Guide to the Mammals of the Southeastern United States . Univ. of Tennessee Press, 1997, pp. 122-124 ( Cotton Mouse ).
- ↑ a b c Wolfe & Linzey: Peromyscus gossypinus . In: Mammalian Species . 70, June 1977, pp. 1-5. doi : 10.2307 / 3503898 .
- ↑ a b c d e f Peromyscus gossypinus in the endangered species Red List of IUCN 2016. Submitted By: Cassola, F., 2016. Retrieved on 24 July 2020th