hispid cotton rat
Sigmodon hispidus
Summary 6
The hispid cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus) is a rodent species long thought to occur in parts of South America, Central America, and southern North America. However, recent taxonomic revisions, based on mitochondrial DNA sequence data, have split this widely distributed species into three separate species (S. hispidus, S. toltecus, and S. hirsutus). Carroll et al. (2004) indicate that the southern edge of the S. hispidus distribution is likely near the Rio Grande where it meets the...
Description 7
"The Hispid Cotton Rat's fur is sprinkled or streaked with blackish or dark brownish and grayish hairs. The Rats molt, losing and getting a new coat, three times in three months as they move through juvenile and subadult stages and into adulthood. Hispid Cotton Rats inhabit tall, dense grasses that protect them from birds of prey. Their range has recently expanded northward into central Virginia, Kentucky, northern Missouri, southern Nebraska, and northern New Mexico, and westward into western Colorado and the Imperial Valley of California. Where their range and the ranges of Prairie Voles and Pygmy Mice now overlap, the Hispid Cotton Rat appears to be competitively excluding these species."
Links:
Mammal Species of the World
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Sources and Credits
- (c) J. N. Stuart, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), http://www.flickr.com/photos/21786539@N03/3655049180
- (c) Stephen Pollard, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/Sigmodon_hispidus_from_Texas.jpg
- (c) Jessica Light, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Jessica Light
- (c) Flickr, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8484/8285024989_008ffdc40b_o.jpg
- (c) Shelia Hargis, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Shelia Hargis
- (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmodon_hispidus
- (c) Smithsonian Institution, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://eol.org/data_objects/16146964
