Pemberton's deer mouse

The Pemberton deer mouse ( Peromyscus pembertoni ), also known as Pemberton Pemberton - mouse or white-footed mouse, is an extinct rodent of the genus Weißfußmäuse.

Description

The Pemberton deer mouse reached a head-body length of 106 mm and a tail length of 104 mm. The Hinterfußlänge was 24 mm. The top was bright cinnamon to ocher - colored sand and heather at the back with fine dark lines. The head was lighter than the back. The underside was white. The tail was two-tone, with a brown top and a white underside.

Habitat

The Pemberton deer mouse was endemic to the Pacific island of Isla San Pedro Nolasco in the Gulf of California. Besides Peromyscus boylii glasselli the Pemberton deer mouse was the only other mammal on the island, which has an area of 3.2 km ² and about 10 km to the west lies off the coast of the Mexican state of Sonora. Dominant plant taxa on Isla San Pedro Nolasco Bursera microphylla are, Echinocereus websterianus, Euphorbia magdalenae, Fouquieria diguetii, Jatropha cuneata, Mammillaria multidigitata, Mammillaria tayloriorum, Melochia tomentosa, Opuntia fulgida var fulgida, Pachycereus pringlei, Pedilanthus macrocarpus, Simmondsia chinensis and Stenocereus thurberi. Little is known about the life of the Pemberton - deer mouse.

Status

The Pemberton deer mouse is only known from twelve specimens gathered up the American zoologist Dr. William Henry Burt of the California Institute of Technology in December 1931. On subsequent expeditions (most recently 1997) has not been detected taxon. The reasons for the disappearance of Pemberton deer mouse are largely unknown. Hypotheses, however, go in the direction that Peromyscus boylii glasselli better able to compete for food sources and the Pemberton deer mouse has gradually ousted from their habitat. Named after John is the kind Roy Pemberton, an ornithologist and businessman who financed Burt's research in the Gulf of California.