Baiomys

The American harvest mice ( Baiomys ) are a genus of New world, where it is the smallest rodents in North America. They have a body length 5-8 inches, added 4-5 inches tail. The weight is only 7 to 8 grams. The coat is colored brown on the upper side and greyish white. In their homeland they are known simply as dwarf mice ( "pygmy mice" ), a name which would in German for confusion with the European harvest mouse, which is not related.

The range extends from the southern border of the United States via Mexico to Nicaragua. Here they live in semi -desert areas where they seek the protection of shrubs. Their food are green parts of plants, in small amounts, they also destroy seeds and insects.

American dwarf mice can propagate over the whole year. The gestation period is 20 days with them, then get 1-5 young. A living captive females had thrown in a period of only 200 days, nine times. The boys live in the wilderness in a nest of dry plant parts, which is protected by a shrub or a tree branch. Both parents care for the young, which is largely independent at the age of 30 days. In captivity, the lifespan of a dwarf mouse was three years in the wilderness, it should be lower.

Two types are distinguished:

• Northern Harvest Mouse, Baiomys taylori, northern Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona
• Southern Harvest Mouse, Baiomys musculus, southern Mexico to Nicaragua

The Northern dwarf mouse was not native to the 1950s on U.S. territory, but has since expanded their range steadily northward. In the 1990s, it was first seen in New Mexico. It is believed that the human variation of the landscape from agricultural benefits the animals.

Their closest relatives are the brown mice ( Scotinomys ), with which they form together the generic group of Baiomyini within the Neotominae.