Cactus mouse
[2] Cactus mice are small cricetid rodents, with large eyes and ears, a pointed snout, and a long monocolor tail.Color of fur varies from ochre to cinnamon, with white ventral areas, and the sides and top of head slightly grayish.[4] Cactus mice are found in dry desert habitats, steppe, and mountain foothills in arid regions of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, as well as islands off the coast of the Baja California peninsula and in the Sea of Cortés.Unlike other muroids, male cactus mice have a simple penis, rather than a complex one, and females have two pairs of teats, rather than three.[7] Cactus mice are ideal laboratory animals since they keep clean, live well in captivity, and have a high rate of productivity.[7] Specimens from Southern California have tested positive for hantavirus, however, infections in this species are likely incidental and localized, rather than a common reservoir.
Conservation statusLeast ConcernIUCN 3.1Scientific classificationEukaryotaAnimaliaChordataMammaliaRodentiaCricetidaeNeotominaePeromyscusBinomial namerodentNew World miceNorth AmericacricetidBaja California peninsulaSea of CortésProsopis julifloraCalifornia mousecanyon mouseEva's desert mousemesquite mousewestern deermousemuroidscrepuscularnocturnalthyroid glandtorporAlbuquerqueIUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesWilson, D. E.Johns Hopkins University PressEutheriaEuarchontogliresBaiomyiniBaiomysSouthern pygmy mouse (B. brunneus)Mexican pygmy mouse (B. musculus)Northern pygmy mouse (B. taylori)ScotinomysAlston's brown mouse (S. teguina)Chiriqui brown mouse (S. xerampelinus)NeotominiNeotomaWhite-throated woodrat (N. albigula)Tamaulipan woodrat (N. angustapalata)Bryant's woodrat (N. bryanti)Nicaraguan woodrat (N. chrysomelas)Arizona woodrat (N. devia)Guatemala woodrat (N. ferruginea)Eastern woodrat (N. floridana )Goldman's woodrat (N. goldmani)Angel de la Guarda woodrat (N. insularis)Desert woodrat (N. lepida )White-toothed woodrat (N. leucodon)Big-eared woodrat (N. macrotis)Allegheny woodrat (N. magister)Mexican woodrat (N. mexicana)Southern Plains woodrat (N. micropus)Nelson's woodrat (N. nelsoni)Bolaños woodrat(N. palatina)Stephens' woodrat (N. stephensi)Sonoran woodrat (N. phenax)Bushy-tailed woodrat (N. cinerea)Dusky-footed woodrat (N. fuscipes)XenomysMagdalena rat (X. nelsoni)HodomysAllen's woodrat (H. alleni)NelsoniaGoldman's diminutive woodrat (N. goldmani)Diminutive woodrat (N. neotomodon)OchrotomyiniOchrotomysGolden mouse (O. nuttalli)ReithrodontomyiniCalifornia mouse (P. californicus)Burt's deer mouse (P. caniceps)Dickey's deer mouse (P. dickeyi)Eva's desert mouse (P. eva)Northern Baja deer mouse (P. fraterculus)Angel Island mouse (P. guardia)San Lorenzo mouse (P. interparietalis)Mesquite mouse (P. merriami)False canyon mouse (P. pseudocrinitus)Hooper's mouse (P. hooperi)Canyon mouse (P. crinitus)Deer mouse (P. maniculatus)Northwestern deer mouse (P. keeni)Black-eared mouse (P. melanotis)Oldfield mouse (P. polionotus)Santa Cruz mouse (P. sejugis)Slevin's mouse (P. slevini)White-footed mouse (P. leucopus)Cotton mouse (P. gossypinus)Aztec mouse (P. aztecus)Gleaning mouse (P. spicilegus)Winkelmann's mouse (P. winkelmanni)Brush mouse (P. boylii)Texas mouse (P. attwateri)Nimble-footed mouse (P. levipes)Tres Marias Island mouse (P. madrensis)White-ankled mouse (P. pectoralis)Chihuahuan mouse (P. polius)Schmidly's deer mouse (P. schmidlyi)Nayarit mouse (P. simulus)San Esteban Island mouse (P. stephani)Pinyon mouse (P. truei)Perote mouse (P. bullatus)Zacatecan deer mouse (P. difficilis)Osgood's mouse (P. gratus)Northern rock mouse (P. nasutus)Plateau mouse (P. melanophrys)Puebla deer mouse (P. mekisturus)Marsh mouse (P. perfulvus)Blackish deer mouse (P. furvus)Maya mouse (P. mayensis)El Carrizo deer mouse (P. ochraventer)Brown deer mouse (P. megalops)Zempoaltepec (P. melanocarpus)Black-tailed mouse (P. melanurus)Mexican deer mouse (P. mexicanus)Big deer mouse (P. grandis)Guatemalan deer mouse (P. guatemalensis)