The Zoochat Photographic Guide to Rodents: part one

Geomys
Nine species, one of which is represented in the Zoochat galleries.


Plains Pocket Gopher Geomys bursarius
Ten subspecies: bursarius, illinoensis, industrius, jugossicularis, lutescens, major, majusculus, missouriensis, ozarkensis, wisconsinensis


Photo by @Giant Eland at Hutchinson Zoo, USA (unknown subspecies)


2013: Hutchinson Zoo | ZooChat



The other species in the genus are not depicted here:


Desert Pocket Gopher Geomys arenarius
Two subspecies: arenarius, brevirostris


Attwater's Pocket Gopher Geomys attwateri
Two subspecies: ammophilus, attwateri


Baird's Pocket Gopher Geomys breviceps
Two subspecies: breviceps, sagittalis


Knox Jones's Pocket Gopher Geomys knoxjonesi
Monotypic


Texas Pocket Gopher Geomys personatus
Seven subspecies: davisi, fallax, fuscus, maritimus, megapotamus, personatus, streckeri


Southeastern Pocket Gopher Geomys pinetis
Six subspecies: austrinus, colonus, cumberlandius, floridanus, fontanelus, pinetis


Central Texas Pocket Gopher Geomys texensis
Three subspecies: bakeri, llanensis, texensis


Tropical Pocket Gopher Geomys tropicalis
Monotypic

 

Orthogeomys
Eleven species, none of which are represented in the Zoochat galleries.


Chiriqui Pocket Gopher Orthogeomys cavator
Three subspecies: cavator, nigrescens, pansa


Cherrie's Pocket Gopher Orthogeomys cherriei
Three subspecies: carlosensis, cherriei, costaricensis


Oaxacan Pocket Gopher Orthogeomys cuniculus
Monotypic


Darien Pocket Gopher Orthogeomys dariensis
Monotypic


Giant Pocket Gopher Orthogeomys grandis
Sixteen subspecies: alleni, alvarezi, annexus, carbo, engelhardi, felipensis, grandis, guerrerensis, huixtlae, latifrons, nelsoni, pluto, pygacanthus, scalops, soconuscensis, vulcani


Variable Pocket Gopher Orthogeomys heterodus
Three subspecies: cartagoensis, heterodus, dolichocephalus


Hispid Pocket Gopher Orthogeomys hispidus
Twelve subspecies: cayoensis, chiapensis, concavus, hispidus, hondurensis, isthmicus, latirostris, negatus, teapensis, tehuantepecus, torridus, yucantanensis


Big Pocket Gopher Orthogeomys lanius
Monotypic


Nicaraguan Pocket Gopher Orthogeomys matagalpae
Monotypic


Thaeler's Pocket Gopher Orthogeomys thaeleri
Monotypic


Underwood's Pocket Gopher Orthogeomys underwoodi
Monotypic

 

Pappogeomys
Two species, neither of which is represented in the Zoochat galleries.


Alcorn's Pocket Gopher Pappogeomys alcorni
Monotypic


Buller's Pocket Gopher Pappogeomys bulleri
Eight subspecies: albinasus, amecensis, bulleri, burti, infuscus, lutulentus, melanurus, nayaritensis

 

Thomomys
Nine species, three of which are represented in the Zoochat galleries.



Botta's Pocket Gopher Thomomys bottae
An utterly ridiculous 195 subspecies have been named, although it is also clearly a species complex. The full list may be seen here: Mammal Species of the World - Browse: bottae


Photo by @Giant Eland at the Lindsay Wildlife Museum, USA (unknown subspecies)


2014 Lindsay Wildlife Museum | ZooChat


Northern Pocket Gopher Thomomys talpoides
At least fifty-six subspecies have been named; almost certainly a species complex. The subspecies are listed here: Mammal Species of the World - Browse: talpoides


Photo by @Ituri in the wild, USA (subspecies fuscus)


Northern Pocket Gopher | ZooChat


Townsend's Pocket Gopher Thomomys townsendii
Two subspecies: nevadensis, townsendii


Both photos below by @ThylacineAlive in the wild, USA (subspecies townsendii)


Townsend's Pocket-Gopher - ZooChat


Townsend's Pocket-Gopher - ZooChat



The remaining species are not depicted here:


Camas Pocket Gopher Thomomys bulbivorus
Monotypic


Wyoming Pocket Gopher Thomomys clusius
Monotypic


Idaho Pocket Gopher Thomomys idahoensis
Three subspecies: confinus, idahoensis, pygmaeus


Mazama Pocket Gopher Thomomys mazama
Fifteen subspecies: couchi, glacialis, helleri, hesperus, louiei, mazama, melanops, nasicus, niger, oregonus, premaxillaris, pugetensis, tacomensis, tumuli, yelmensis


Mountain Pocket Gopher Thomomys monticola
Monotypic


Southern Pocket Gopher Thomomys umbrinus
Twenty-five subspecies: arriagensis, atrodorsalis, atrovarius, camargensis, chihuahuae, crassidens, durangi, emotus, enixus, eximius, extimus, goldmani, intermedius, juntae, madrensis, musculus, nelsoni, newmani, parviceps, potosinus, pullus, sonoriensis, supernus, umbrinus, zacatecae

 

Zygogeomys
One species, which is not represented in the Zoochat galleries.


Michoacan Pocket Gopher Zygogeomys trichopus
Monotypic

 

HETEROMYIDAE
Kangaroo Rats and Mice, and Pocket Mice

About sixty species in five genera: Chaetodipus, Dipodomys, Heteromys, Microdipodops, Perognathus.


The family is divided into three subfamilies: Heteromyinae (Spiny Pocket Mice, with one genus, Heteromys), Perognathinae (Pocket Mice, with two genera, Chaetodipus and Perognathus), and Dipodomyinae (Kangaroo Rats and Kangaroo Mice, with two genera, Dipodomys and Microdipodops). I will present the genera below in this order (rather than alphabetically).


Only nine species from three genera (Chaetodipus, Perognathus and Dipodomys) are represented in the Zoochat galleries, and one of those only by a museum specimen.

 

Heteromys
Fifteen species, none of which are represented in the Zoochat galleries.

Some of the species here were formerly separated as a genus Liomys.


Panamanian Spiny Pocket Mouse Heteromys adspersus
Monotypic


Trinidad Spiny Pocket Mouse Heteromys anomalus
Four subspecies: anomalus, brachialis, hershkovitzi, jesupi


Southern Spiny Pocket Mouse Heteromys australis
Three subspecies: australis, conscius, pacificus


Overlook Spiny Pocket Mouse Heteromys catopterius
Monotypic


Desmarest's Spiny Pocket Mouse Heteromys desmarestianus
Twelve subspecies: chiriquensis, crassirostris, desmarestianus, fuscatus, goldmani, panamensis, planifrons, repens, subaffinis, temporalis, underwoodi, zonalis


Gaumer's Spiny Pocket Mouse Heteromys gaumeri
Monotypic


Mexican Spiny Pocket Mouse Heteromys irroratus
Seven subspecies: alleni, bulleri, guerrerensis, irroratus, jaliscensis, texensis, torridus


Nelson's Spiny Pocket Mouse Heteromys nelsoni
Monotypic


Cloud-forest Spiny Pocket Mouse Heteromys nubicolens
Monotypic


Paraguaná Spiny Pocket Mouse Heteromys oasicus
Monotypic


Mountain Spiny Pocket Mouse Heteromys oresterus
Monotypic


Painted Spiny Pocket Mouse Heteromys pictus
Four subspecies: annectens, hispidus, pictus, plantinarensis


Salvin's Spiny Pocket Mouse Heteromys salvini
Three subspecies: crispus, salvini, vulcani


Jaliscan Spiny Pocket Mouse Heteromys spectabilis
Monotypic


Ecuadoran Spiny Pocket Mouse Heteromys teleus
Monotypic

 

Chaetodipus
Seventeen species, two of which are represented in the Zoochat galleries.


Bailey's Pocket Mouse Chaetodipus baileyi
Two subspecies: baileyi, domensis. (A former subspecies, rudinoris, was split as a full species - the Baja California Pocket Mouse - and took all the remaining subspecies with it).


Photo by @Giant Eland in the wild, Arizona (USA) (subspecies baileyi)


Bailey's pocket mouse (Chaetodipus baileyi) - ZooChat


Desert Pocket Mouse Chaetodipus penicillatus
Six subspecies: angustirostris, penicillatus, pricei, seri, sobrinus, stephensi


Photo by @Giant Eland at Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium, USA (unknown subspecies)


desert pocket mouse (Chaetodipus penicillatus) - ZooChat

Photo by @Giant Eland in the wild, Arizona (USA) (subspecies pricei) [the animal in the foreground]


desert pocket mouse (Chaetodipus penicillatus) with Bailey's pocket mouse (Chaetodipus baileyi) in background - ZooChat



None of the remaining species in the genus are depicted here:


Little Desert Pocket Mouse Chaetodipus arenarius
Eleven subspecies: albescens, albulus, ambiguus, ammophilus, arenarius, helleri, mexicalis, paralios, sabulosus, siccus, sublucidus


Narrow-skulled Pocket Mouse Chaetodipus artus
Monotypic


California Pocket Mouse Chaetodipus californicus
Eight subspecies: bensoni, bernardinus, californicus, dispar, femoralis, marinensis, mesopolius, ochrus


Dalquest's Pocket Mouse Chaetodipus dalquesti
Monotypic


Chihuahuan Pocket Mouse Chaetodipus eremicus
Two subspecies: atrodorsalis, eremicus


San Diego Pocket Mouse Chaetodipus fallax
Six subspecies: anthonyi, fallax, inopinus, majusculus, pallidus, xerotrophicus


Long-tailed Pocket Mouse Chaetodipus formosus
Seven subspecies: cinerascens, formosus, incolatus, infolatus, melanurus, mesembrinus, mohavensis


Goldman's Pocket Mouse Chaetodipus goldmani
Monotypic


Hispid Pocket Mouse Chaetodipus hispidus
Four subspecies: hispidus, paradoxus, spilotus, zacatecae


Rock Pocket Mouse Chaetodipus intermedius
Eight subspecies: ater, beardi, crinitus, intermedius, lithophilus, minimus, phasma, rupestris


Lined Pocket Mouse Chaetodipus lineatus
Monotypic


Nelson's Pocket Mouse Chaetodipus nelsoni
Two subspecies: canescens, nelsoni


Sinaloan Pocket Mouse Chaetodipus pernix
Two subspecies: pernix, rostratus


Baja California Pocket Mouse Chaetodipus rudinoris
Seven subspecies: extimus, fornicatus, hueyi, insularis, knekus, mesidios, rudinoris


Spiny Pocket Mouse Chaetodipus spinatus
Eighteen subspecies: broccus, bryanti, evermanni, guardiae, lambi, latijugularis, lorenzi, magdalenae, macrosensis, margaritae, occultus, oribates, peninsulae, prietae, pullus, rufescens, seorsus, spinatus

 

Perognathus
Nine species, two of which are represented in the Zoochat galleries.



Silky Pocket Mouse Perognathus flavus
Fourteen subspecies: bimaculatus, bunkeri, flavus, fuliginosus, fuscus, goodpasteri, hopiensis, medius, mexicanus, pallescens, parviceps, piperi, sanluisi, sonoriensis


Photo by @Arizona Docent in the wild, USA (subspecies flavus)


silky pocket mouse - ZooChat


Little Pocket Mouse Perognathus longimembris
Sixteen subspecies: aestivus, arizonensis, bangsi, bombycinus, brevinasus, gulosus, internationalis, kinoensis, longimembris, nevadensis, pacificus, panamintinus, pimensis, salinensis, tularensis, venustus


Photo by @Giant Eland at San Diego Zoo Safari Park (USA) (subspecies pacificus)


Pacific Pocket Mouse (Perognathus longimembris pacificus) - ZooChat



The remaining species in the genus are as follows:


White-eared Pocket Mouse Perognathus alticola
Two subspecies: alticola, inexpectatus


Arizona Pocket Mouse Perognathus amplus
Four subspecies: amplus, cineris, pergracilis, taylori


Olive-backed Pocket Mouse Perognathus fasciatus
Two subspecies: callistus, fasciatus


Plains Pocket Mouse Perognathus flavescens
Eight subspecies: apache, caryi, cockrumi, copei, flavescens, melanotis, perniger, relictus


San Joaquin Pocket Mouse Perognathus inornatus
Three subspecies: inornatus, neglectus, psammophilus


Merriam's Pocket Mouse Perognathus merriami
Two subspecies: gilvus, merriami


Great Basin Pocket Mouse Perognathus parvus
Twelve subspecies: bullatus, clarus, columbianus, idahoensis, laingi, lordi, mollipilosus, olivaceus, parvus, trumbullensis, xanthanotus, yakimensis

 

Dipodomys
Nineteen species, five of which are represented in the Zoochat galleries (with one species only as a taxidermy specimen).


Desert Kangaroo Rat Dipodomys deserti
Four subspecies: aquilus, arizonae, deserti, sonoriensis


Photo by @Giant Eland at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo, USA (unknown subspecies)


desert kangaroo rat (Dipodomys deserti) 2013 | ZooChat


Merriam's Kangaroo Rat Dipodomys merriami
Nineteen subspecies: ambiguus, annulus, arenivagus, atronasus, brunensis, collinus, frenatus, insularis, margaritae, mayensis, melanurus, merriami, mitchelli, olivaceus, parvus, platycephalus, quintinensis, trinidadensis, vulcani. The subspecies insularis and margaritae were formerly treated as full species.


Photo by @gentle lemur at Bristol Zoo, UK (unknown subspecies)


Merriams kangaroo rat | ZooChat


Ord's Kangaroo Rat Dipodomys ordii
Thirty-two subspecies: celeripes, chapmani, cinderensis, cineraceus, columbianus, cupidineus, durranti, evexus, extractus, fetosus, fremonti, inaquosus, longipes, luteolus, marshalli, medius, monoensis, montanus, nexilis, obscurus, oklahomae, ordii, pallidus, palmeri, panguitchensis, priscus, pullus, richardsoni, sanrafaeli, terrosus, uintensis, utahensis


Photo by @Giant Eland at Oklahoma City Zoo, USA (unknown subspecies)


2013: Oklahoma Zoo | ZooChat


Banner-tailed Kangaroo Rat Dipodomys spectabilis
Seven subspecies: baileyi, clarencei, cratodon, intermedius, perblandus, spectabilis, zygomaticus


Photo by @Giant Eland at Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium, USA (unknown subspecies)


banner-tailed kangaroo rat (Dipodomys spectabilis) 2010 | ZooChat


Narrow-faced Kangaroo Rat Dipodomys venustus
Three subspecies: elephantinus, santiluciae, venustus. The first was previously treated as a full species.


Photo by @UngulateNerd92 at the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History, USA (taxidermy specimen) (subspecies santiluciae)


Narrow-faced kangaroo rat (Dipodomys venustus santiluciae) | ZooChat

 

The remaining species of Kangaroo Rats in the genus Dipodomys are not depicted in the Zoochat galleries.


Agile Kangaroo Rat Dipodomys agilis
Two subspecies: agilis, perplexus


California Kangaroo Rat Dipodomys californicus
Three subspecies: californicus, eximius, saxatilis


Gulf Coast Kangaroo Rat Dipodomys compactus
Two subspecies: compactus, sennetti


Texas Kangaroo Rat Dipodomys elator
Monotypic


San Quintin Kangaroo Rat Dipodomys gravipes
Monotypic


Heermann's Kangaroo Rat Dipodomys heermanni
Nine subspecies: arenae, berkeleyensis, dixoni, goldmani, heermanni, jolonensis, morroensis, swarthi, tularensis


Giant Kangaroo Rat Dipodomys ingens
Monotypic


Chisel-toothed Kangaroo Rat Dipodomys microps
Thirteen subspecies: alfredi, aquilonius, bonnevillei, celsus, centralis, idahoensis, leucotis, levipes, microps, occidentalis, preblei, russeolus, subtenuis


Nelson's Kangaroo Rat Dipodomys nelsoni
Monotypic


Fresno Kangaroo Rat Dipodomys nitratoides
Three subspecies: brevinasus, exilis, nitratoides


Panamint Kangaroo Rat Dipodomys panamintinus
Five subspecies: argusensis, caudatus, leucogenys, mohavensis, panamintinus


Phillips' Kangaroo Rat Dipodomys phillipsii
Four subspecies: oaxacae, ornatus, perotensis, phillipsii


Dulzura Kangaroo Rat Dipodomys simulans
Two subspecies: peninsularis, simulans


Stephens' Kangaroo Rat Dipodomys stephensi
Monotypic

 

Microdipodops
Two species, neither of which are represented in the Zoochat galleries.


Dark Kangaroo Mouse Microdipodops megacephalus
Thirteen subspecies: albiventer, ambiguus, atrirelictus, californicus, leucotis, medius, megacephalus, nasutus, nexus, oregonus, paululus, polionotus, sabulonis


Pale Kangaroo Mouse Microdipodops pallidus
Five subspecies: ammophilus, pallidus, purus, restrictus, ruficollaris

 

I'm not too fussed on these, because beaver subspecies are a right mess.

 

There are a series of publications called "Mammalian Species" which are very useful for things of this nature. Some species accounts are freely-available while others are only the abstract. Usually the abstract is sufficient for the purposes of subspecies because they are listed on the first page, but in the case of Botta's Pocket Gopher the subspecies run to four pages long. The only accessible copy for this species apparently doesn't let you provide a permanent link so I'm going to replace it in the thread with a link to just a straight unannotated list from Mammal Species of the World.

However, this may (or may not) work for you: in Google, put in the key words "Thomomys bottae subspecies mammal species world" and for me the link is the third one down with the title "Thomomys bottae - Oxford Journals - Oxford University Press". It opens directly to the pdf from "Mammalian Species". I had a play around with key words and that was the only one which got me an easy result for that link. The results you'll get from BioOne and others will only give you an abstract as far as I found.

 

Another incredibly handy thing with the series is that many (not all) of the accounts have distribution maps of the subspecies.