Dipodomys

Ord's kangaroo rat Dipodomys ordii, photographed by US Fish and Wildlife.

Belongs within: Heteromyidae.

The genus Dipodomys includes the kangaroo rats, bipedal jumping rodents found in arid parts of North America. They are highly derived relative to other members of the family Heteromyidae, though they share their jumping habit with the kangaroo mice of the genus Microdipodops to which they may be directly related (Hafner & Hafner 1983).

Characters (from Vaughan et al. 2011): Eyes large; ears small; auditory bullae greatly enlarged. Fur silky. Neck short, cervical vertebrae strongly compressed and partly fused; forelimbs small; tail long. Hindlimbs elongate; thigh musculature powerful; first hind digit sometimes reduced.

<==Dipodomys Gray 1841 HH83
    |--D. agilis Gambel 1848 (see below for synonymy) HH83
    |--D. californicus Merriam 1890 HH83
    |--D. compactus True 1889 HH83
    |--D. deserti JS71
    |--D. elator JS71
    |--D. elephantinus JS71
    |--D. gravipes JS71
    |--D. heermanni JS71
    |    |--D. h. heermanni BP87
    |    `--D. h. morroensis BP87
    |--D. ingens JS71
    |--D. insularis JS71
    |--D. margaritae JS71
    |--D. merriami JS71
    |    |--D. m. merriami JS71
    |    |--D. m. ambiguus MB86
    |    |--D. m. atronasus Merriam 1894 MB86
    |    `--D. m. frenatus JS71
    |--D. microps JS71
    |    |--D. m. microps HD37
    |    `--D. m. levipes HD37
    |--D. nelsoni Merriam 1907 [=D. spectabilis nelsoni] MB86
    |--D. nitratoides JS71
    |    |--D. n. nitratoides BP87
    |    `--D. n. exilis BP87
    |--D. ordii JS71
    |    |--D. o. ordii MB86
    |    |--D. o. fuscus Setzer 1949 MB86
    |    |--D. o. idoneus Setzer 1949 MB86
    |    `--D. o. palmeri (Allen 1881) MB86
    |--D. ornatus Merriam 1894 JS71, MB86 [=D. phillipsii ornatus SBK78]
    |--D. panamintinus JS71
    |--D. perblandus B74
    |--D. phillipsi JS71
    |    |--D. p. phillipsi G69
    |    |--D. p. oaxacae G69
    |    `--D. p. perotensis G69
    |--D. sanctiluciae Crinnell 1919 S69
    |--D. sennetti JS71
    |--D. spectabilis JS71
    |    |--D. s. spectabilis MB86
    |    |--D. s. cratodon Merriam 1907 MB86
    |    `--D. s. zygomaticus MB86
    |--D. stephensi JS71
    `--D. venustus JS71

Dipodomys agilis Gambel 1848 [incl. D. antiquarius Huey 1962, D. paralius Huey 1951, D. penisularis (Merriam 1907)] HH83

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[B74] Bugge, J. 1974. The cephalic arterial system in insectivores, primates, rodents and lagomorphs, with special reference to the systematic classification. Acta Anatomica 87 (Suppl 62): 1–160.

[BP87] Burton, J. A., & B. Pearson. 1987. Collins Guide to the Rare Mammals of the World. Collins: London.

[G69] Goodwin, G. G. 1969. Mammals from the State of Oaxaca, Mexico, in the American Museum of Natural History. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 141 (1): 1–269, 40 pls.

[HH83] Hafner, J. C., & M. S. Hafner. 1983. Evolutionary relationships of heteromyid rodents. In Biology of Desert Rodents. Great Basin Naturalist Memoirs 7: 3–29.

[HD37] Hall, E. R., & S. D. Durrant. 1937. A new kangaroo mouse (Microdipodops) of Utah and Nevada. Journal of Mammalogy 18 (3): 357–359.

[JS71] Johnson, W. E. & R. K. Selander. 1971. Protein variation and systematics in kangaroo rats (genus Dipodomys). Systematic Zoology 20 (4): 377–405.

[MB86] Matson, J. O. & R. H. Baker. 1986. Mammals of Zacatecas. Special Publications, Museum of Texas Tech University 24: 1–88.

[SBK78] Schnell, G. D., T. L. Best & M. L. Kennedy. 1978. Interspecific morphologic variation in kangaroo rats (Dipodomys): degree of concordance with genic variation. Systematic Zoology 27 (3): 34–48.

[S69] Steyskal, G. C. 1969. The mistreatment of the Latin genitive case in forming names of parasites. Systematic Zoology 18 (3): 339–342.

Vaughan, T. A., J. M. Ryan & N. J. Czaplewski. 2011. Mammalogy. Jones & Bartlett Learning.