Reithrodontomys raviventris

• Overview
• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

Endangered

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Description

Habitat

Ecology: The species' habitat consists of salt and brackish marshes, where plants provide a dense mat of cover , ideally around 30-50 cm high with a high percentage (e.g. , 60%) of pickleweed (Salicornia) and complex structure of Atriplex and other species. The mouse needs access to refuge/cover on high ground , especially during highest tides in winter. It appears to be less dependent on cover in diked marshes than in tidal marshes (Geissel et al. 1988). In South San Francisco Bay , in diked marsh , harvest mice used more open and saltier pickleweed when vole populations were high, then moved into deeper and less salty pickleweed as vole populations declined (Geissel et al. 1988). In diked salt marshes, high densities of voles (Microtus) seem to force this species into marginal habitats or to become locally extirpated (Geissel et al. 1988).

Subspecies halicoetes builds ball-like nests of dry grasses/sedges on the ground. Subspecies raviventris does little nest building but may use accumulations of vegetation on the ground surface. Diet dominated by green vegetation. Will eat salt grass and pickleweed as well as some seeds. Diet influenced by availability of food plants. More green vegetation is eaten in winter. Primarily nocturnal but sometimes active during the day.

Average litter size is 3.7-4.0 young. There may be only a single litter/year in R. r. halicoetes (breeds May-November) but multiple litters in R. r. raviventris (breeds March-November).[1].

List of Habitats:

•     5     Wetlands (inland)   
  
•     5.16     Wetlands (inland) - Permanent Saline, Brackish or Alkaline Marshes/Pools   
  
•     12     Marine Intertidal   
  
•     12.5     Marine Intertidal - Salt Marshes (Emergent Grasses)   
[more info]

Taxonomy

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 09-Jun-2004

Two subspecies are recognized: R. r. raviventris and R. r. halicoetes, which some authors have proposed as distinct species. Neither Baker et al. (2003) nor Musser and Carleton (in Wilson and Reeder 1993, 2005) recognized halicoetes as a distinct species.[1].

Similar Species

Members of the genus Reithrodontomys

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 34 species and subspecies in this genus:

R. bakeri (Baker's Small Toothed Harvest Mouse) · R. brevirostris (Short-Nosed Harvest Mouse) · R. burti (Sonoran Harvest Mouse) · R. chrysopsis (Volcano Harvest Mouse) · R. chrysopsis chrysopsis (Volcano Harvest Mouse) · R. creper (Chiriqui Harvest Mouse) · R. darienensis (Darien Harvest Mouse) · R. fulvescens (Fulvous Harvest Mouse) · R. fulvescens fulvescens (Fulvous Harvest Mouse) · R. gracilis (Slender Harvest Mouse) · R. gracilis gracilis (Slender Harvest Mouse) · R. hirsutus (Hairy Harvest Mouse) · R. hirsutus hirsutus (Hairy Harvest Mouse) · R. humilis (Eastern Harvest Mouse) · R. humulis (Eastern Harvest Mouse) · R. humulis humulis (Eastern Harvest Mouse) · R. megalotis (Southern Marsh Harvest Mouse) · R. megalotis distichlis (Salinas Harvest Mouse) · R. megalotis megalotis (Western Harvest Mouse) · R. mexicanus (Mexican Harvest Mouse) · R. mexicanus mexicanus (Mexican Harvest Mouse) · R. microdon (Small-Toothed Harvest Mouse) · R. montanus (Plains Harvest Mouse) · R. montanus montanus (Plains Harvest Mouse) · R. paradoxus (Nicaraguan Harvest Mouse) · R. raviventris (Salt-Marsh Harvest Mouse) · R. raviventris halicoetes (Salt-Marsh Harvest Mouse) · R. raviventris raviventris (Red-Bellied Harvest Mouse) · R. rodriguezi (Rodriguez's Harvest Mouse) · R. spectabilis (Cozumel Harvest Mouse) · R. sumichrasti (Sumachrasti's Harvest Mouse) · R. sumichrasti sumichrasti (Sumichrast's Harvest Mouse) · R. tenuirostris (Narrow-Nosed Harvest Mouse) · R. zacatecae (Zacatecas Harvest Mouse)

More Info

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Further Reading

• A distributional list of the mammals of California, by Joseph Grinnell. San Francisco, The Academy, 1913. url p. 304.
• A manual of land and fresh water vertebrate animals of the United States (exclusive of birds) by Henry Sherring Pratt. .. Philadelphia, P. Blakiston's Son & Co., inc.[c1935] url p. 397, p. 409.
• Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences. Los Angeles, Calif.: The Academy, 1902-1971. url p. 102, p. 96, p. 97, p. 99.
• California fish and game. [San Francisco, etc.]: State of California, Resources Agency, Dept. of Fish and Game. url p. 113, p. 120, p. 135, p. 254, p. 256, p. 62, p. 63, p. 67.
• FWS/0BS. [Washington]Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Dept. of the Interior. url p. 247, p. 288.
• Field Museum of Natural History bulletin. Chicago, Field Museum of Natural History, [1930]-c1990. url p. 6.
• List of North American land mammals in the United States National Museum, 1911; by Gerrit S. Miller, jr. Washington, Govt. print. off., 1912. url p. 135.
• Miscellaneous publication - University of Kansas, Museum of Natural History. 1957 Lawrence: University of Kansas, 1946-1996. url p. 10, p. 10.
• Name that animal; a guide to the identification of the common land and fresh-water animals of the United States, with special reference to the area east of the Rockies. With drawings by Olive Driver. Northampton? Mass., 1950 url p. 517.
• North American fauna. Washington: Fish and Wildlife Service; for sale by the Supt. of Docs., U. S. Govt. Print. Off. url p. 41, p. 42, p. 82, p. 88, p. 96.
• Proceedings - California Academy of Sciences, 4th series. San Francisco, California Academy of Sciences. url p. 304.
• Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. Washington, Biological Society of Washington url p. 197, p. 239.
• Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 4th series. San Francisco, California Academy of Sciences. url p. 304.
• Selected vertebrate endangered species of the seacoast of the United States / prepared by National Fish and Wildlife Laboratory, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. [Washington]: The Service: [for sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. Govt. Print. Off.], 1980. url p. 1, p. 5.
• Seventy-five years of mammalogy, 1919-1994 / edited by Elmer C. Birney, Jerry R. Choate. [Provo, Utah]: American Society of Mammalogists, c1994. url p. 305, p. 320.
• The IUCN Mammal Red Data Book. Part 1: threatened mammalian taxa of the Americas and the Australasian zoogeographic region (excluding Cetacea) IUCN url p. 239, p. 239, p. 24, p. 240, p. 240, p. 241, p. 241, p. 29, p. 29, p. 513, p. 513.
• The families and genera of living rodents / by J.R. Ellerman; with a list of named forms (1758-1936) by R.W. Hayman and G.W.C.Holt. London: British Museum, 1941. url p. 381.
• Threatened wildlife of the United States. Washington, Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife [for sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. Govt. Print. Off.]1973. url p. 226, p. 289.
• University of California publications in zoology. Berkeley: University Press, 1906- url p. 194, p. 317.
• World Checklist of Threatened Mammals JNCC url p. 128, p. 50.

Notes

Contributors

• Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 30, 2012.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed February 29, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 3 providers.
• IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. . Downloaded on January 28, 2012.
• Ruggiero M., Gordon D., Bailly N., Kirk P., Nicolson D. (2011). The Catalogue of Life Taxonomic Classification, Edition 2, Part A. In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2011 Annual Checklist (Bisby F.A., Roskov Y.R., Orrell T.M., Nicolson D., Paglinawan L.E., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., Ouvrard D., eds). DVD; Species 2000: Reading, UK.
• Shellhammer, H.S. 2000. In IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCNRedList.org. Downloaded July 19, 2008.
• Shellhammer, H.S. 2000. Reithrodontomys raviventris. In: IUCN 2006. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org . Downloaded on 20 October 2006.
• Whitaker Jr., J.O., Hammerson, G. & Williams, D.F. 2008. Reithrodontomys raviventris. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloadedon 04February2012.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 29, 2008:

• Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History: Vertebrate specimens
• University of Alaska Museum of the North: University of New Mexico Museum of Southwestern Biology Mammal Collection
• University of Michigan Museum of Zoology (UMMZ): Mammal specimens

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 109939
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-180345
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 180345
• IUCN ID: 239089
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: AMAFF02040
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Species Identifier: A03Y
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 9473

Footnotes

1. Whitaker Jr., J.O., Hammerson, G. & Williams, D.F. 2008. Reithrodontomys raviventris. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 04 February 2012. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.