Mexican Volcano Mouse

Mexican Volcano Mouse Temporal range: Pleistocene - Recent
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Cricetidae
Subfamily:	Neotominae
Tribe:	Reithrodontomyini
Genus:	Neotomodon Merriam, 1898
Species:	N. alstoni
Binomial name
Neotomodon alstoni Merriam, 1898

The Mexican Volcano Mouse (Neotomodon alstoni) is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae endemic to high elevations of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt.

Taxonomy and Systematics

Merriam originally described the Mexican Volcano Mouse as one of three species in the genus Neotomodon; N. alstoni was moved to the deer mouse genus Peromyscus in 1979, then subsequently moved back to Neotomodon.^[1] Merriam does not state after whom the species is named in his original description for the genus (and species).^[2] Despite the current taxonomy, a recent phylogeny based on cytochrome-b sequences shows Peromyscus to be polyphyletic, and the authors of that paper suggest Neotomodon (and several other monotypic genera) be transferred to Peromyscus.^[3]

Characteristics

With relatively large eyes and ears, bi-colored body and tail (dark dorsally and white ventrally), and a tail slightly shorter than the body length, the Mexican Volcano Mouse appears very similar to a deer mouse, but it is diagnosed by several skull characters including the number and extent of palatal ridges and molar characteristics.^[3]

Life History

Mexican Volcano Mouse breeding is thought to occur between June and September, with two to three litters of 3.3 young per litter, per year.^[3] The mouse exhibits bi-parental care in captivity, which suggests a monogamous mating system.^[4] Little is known about other life history characteristics--for example, sex ratios, age at first breeding, etc.--of the species.

References

1. ^ Williams, S. L., J. Ramirez-Pulido, and R. J. Baker (1985) Mammalian Species: Peromyscus alstoni.[1]
2. ^ Merriam C. H. (1898) A new genus (Neotomodon) and three new species of murine rodents from the mountains of southern Mexico. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 12:127-129[2]
3. ^ ^{a b c} Bradley, Robert D., Nevin D. Durish, Duke S. Rogers, Jacqueline R. Miller, Mark D. Engstrom, and C. William Kilpatrick. (2007) Toward a Molecular Phylogeny for Peromyscus: Evidence from Mitochondrial Cytochrome-b Sequences. Journal of Mammalogy 88(5):1146-1159. doi:10.1644/06-MAMM-A-342R.1.[3]
4. ^ Luis, J., A. Carmona, J. Delgado, F. A Cervantes, and R. Cardenas. (2000) Parental behavior of the volcano mouse, Neotomodon alstoni (Rodentia: Muridae), in captivity. Journal of Mammalogy 81(2):600–605. [4]

• Baillie, J. 1996. Neotomodon alstoni. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 19 July 2007.
• Musser, G. G. and M. D. Carleton. 2005. Superfamily Muroidea. pp. 894–1531 in Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.