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Little pocket mouse (Perognathus longimembris)Īrizona pocket mouse (Perognathus amplus) In this way many species of heteromyid mice and rats can share the same environment. Merriam’s kangaroo rat, a creature of open, creosote flats, tends to dash from one clump of bushes to the next, overlooking seeds out in the open spaces, leaving those for other mice to find. Bailey’s pocket mouse, for example, climbs up into desert wash vegetation to find seeds and berries still on the plants, while the desert pocket mouse hunts along the ground in washes and open areas for seeds. They also have efficient kidneys that can conserve precious fluids by concentrating the urine.īecause there are many of these little rodents and they are closely related to each other, each species has evolved with different foraging times and places, which minimizes competition. They are all well adapted to living in arid environments since

Kangaroo rats and pocket mice are all nocturnal, burrowing animals withĮxternal fur-lined cheek pouches for storing and transporting the seeds that are Despite their names, they are neither rats nor mice and in spite of their mouse-like appearance, they are not closely related to any other species of North American rodent. The heteromyids are a group of rodents consisting of kangaroo rats and pocket mice.