Roadless Areas
Home/Species/ Southern Grasshopper Mouse

Onychomys torridus

(Coues, 1874)

Southern Grasshopper Mouse

G5Secure Found in 2 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.103432
Element CodeAMAFF06020
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassMammalia
OrderRodentia
FamilyCricetidae
GenusOnychomys
Concept Reference
Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder (editors). 1993. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Second edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. xviii + 1206 pp. Available online at: http://www.nmnh.si.edu/msw/.
Taxonomic Comments
O. arenicola formerly was included in this species but was elevated to species status by Hinesley (1979). Onychomys mtDNA-haplotypes define at least five discrete geographical subsets (Wyoming Basin/Interior Plains/Colorado Plateau, Columbia Basin/Great Basin, Gulf Coastal Plain, Chihuahuan Desert, and Western Deserts), corresponding with five inferred areas of endemism for biota restricted to arid and semiarid habitats in North America (Riddle and Honeycutt 1990).
Conservation Status
Review Date1996-11-12
Change Date1996-11-12
Range Extent Comments
Central California, southern Nevada, and extreme southwestern Utah south to northern Baja California, western Sonora, and northernmost Sinaloa, Mexico (Musser and Carleton, in Wilson and Reeder 1993).
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Hot, arid valleys and scrub deserts of Lower Sonoran life zone, with sparse and scattered vegetation such as mesquite, huisache, creosote bush, cholla, yucca, and various short grasses. Also found in blackbush zones on alluvial fans. Young are born in nest in underground burrow system that may have been abandoned by another small mammal.

Ecology

Both sexes (more frequently the male) emit shrill calls which are apparently used as territorial or spacing mechanisms. Probably usually lives less than 12 months in the wild. In Arizona, home range averaged 2.6 ha (nonbreeding) and 3.7 ha (breeding) for males, 1.7 ha for females; home ranges of males overlapped with those of males and females; home ranges of breeding females overlapped only slightly, overlapped more during nonbreeding period (Frank and Heske 1992).

Reproduction

First litters are born to females at 4-5 months of age, litter size is 1-5. Sperm production in males is reduced in summer. Reproductive senescence occurs in both sexes after about 12 months of age. Apparently, males compete among themselves for reproductive females (Frank and Heske 1992).
Terrestrial Habitats
Shrubland/chaparralGrassland/herbaceousDesert
Other Nations (1)
United StatesN5
ProvinceRankNative
New MexicoS3Yes
CaliforniaSNRYes
ArizonaS5Yes
NevadaS5Yes
UtahS1Yes
Roadless Areas (2)
Arizona (2)
AreaForestAcres
GaliuroCoronado National Forest28,333
Santa TeresaCoronado National Forest8,929
References (28)
  1. American Society of Mammalogists (ASM). 2024. The Mammal Diversity Database (MDD). Online. Available: www.mammaldiversity.org
  2. Banks, E. M., R. J. Brooks, and J. Schnell. 1975. A radiotracking study of home range and activity of the brown lemming (<i>Lemmus trimucronatus</i>). Journal of Mammalogy 56:888-901.
  3. Blair, W. F. 1943. Populations of the deer mouse and associated small mammals in the mesquite associations of southern New Mexico. Contributions of the Laboratory of Vertebrate Biology, University of Michigan, No. 21. 40 pp.
  4. Bowman, J. C., M. Edwards, L. S. Sheppard, and G. J. Forbes. 1999. Record distance for a non-homing movement by a deer mouse, <i>Peromyscus maniculatus</i>. Canadian Field-Naturalist 113:292-293.
  5. Brooks, R. J., and E. M. Banks. 1971. Radio-tracking study of lemming home range. Communications in Behavioral Biology 6:1-5.
  6. Castleberry, S., B., T. L. King, P. B. Wood, and W. M. Ford. 2002. Microsatellite DNA analysis of population structure in Allegheny woodrats (<i>Neotoma magister</i>). Journal of Mammalogy 83:1058-1070.
  7. Chew, R. M., and A. E. Chew. 1970. Energy relationships of the mammals of a desert shrub (LARREA TRIDENTATA) community. Ecological Monographs 40:1-21.
  8. Douglass, R. J. 1977. Population dynamics, home ranges, and habitat associations of the yellow-cheeked vole, <i>Microtus xanthognathus</i>, in the Northwest Territories. Canadian Field-Naturalist 91:237-47.
  9. Frank, D. H., and E. J. Heske. 1992. Seasonal changes in space use patterns in the southern grasshopper mouse, <i>Onychomys torridus torridus</i>. J. Mamm. 73:292-298.
  10. Garland, T., Jr. and W. G. Bradley. 1984. Effects of a highway on Mojave Desert rodent populations. American Midland Naturalist 111:47-56.
  11. Hall, E. R. 1981a. The Mammals of North America, second edition. Vols. I &amp; II. John Wiley &amp; Sons, New York, New York. 1181 pp.
  12. Hinesley, L.L. 1979. Systematics and distribution of two chromosome forms in the southern grasshopper mouse, genus <i>Onychomys</i>. J. of Mammal. 60(1):117-128.
  13. Hoffmeister, D. F. 1986. Mammals of Arizona. University of Arizona Press and Arizona Game and Fish Department. 602 pp.
  14. Jike, L., G. O. Batzli, L. L. Geta. 1988. Home ranges of prairie voles as determined by radiotracking and by powdertracking. Journal of Mammalogy 69:183-186.
  15. Krohne, D. T., and G. A. Hoch. 1999. Demography of <i>Peromyscus leucopus</i> populations on habitat patches: the role of dispersal. Canadian Journal of Zoology 77:1247-1253.
  16. MacMillen, R. E. 1964. Population ecology, water relations and social behavior of a southern California semidesert rodent fauna. University of California Publications in Zoology 71:1-59.
  17. Maier, T. J. 2002. Long-distance movements by female white-footed mice, <i>Peromyscus leucopus</i>, in extensive mixed-wood forest. Canadian Field-Naturalist 116:108-111.
  18. Mammalian Species, nos. 1-604. Published by the American Society of Mammalogists.
  19. McCarty, R. 1975. <i>Onychomys torridus</i>. Mammalian Species 59:1-5.
  20. Oxley, D. J., M. B. Fenton and G. R. Carmody. 1974. The effects of roads on populations of small mammals. Journal of Applied Ecology 11: 51-59.
  21. Rehmeier, R. L., G. A. Kaufman, and D. W. Kaufman. 2004. Long-distance movements of the deer mouse in tallgrass prairie. Journal of Mammalogy 85:562-568.
  22. Riddle, B. R. 1995. Molecular biogeography in the pocket mice (<i>Perognathus </i> and <i>Chaetodipus</i>) and grasshopper mice (<i>Onychomys</i>): the late Cenozoic development of a North American aridlands rodent guild. Journal of Mammalogy 76:283-301.
  23. Riddle, B. R., and R. L. Honeycut. 1990. Historical biogeography in North American arid regions: an approach using mitochondrial-DNA phylogeny in grasshopper mice (genus <i>Onychomys</i>). Evolution 44:1-15.
  24. Smith, M. H. 1965. Dispersal capacity of the dusky-footed wood rat, <i>Neotoma fuscipes</i>. American Midland Naturalist 74:457-463.
  25. Storer, T. I., F. C. Evans, and F. G. Palmer. 1944. Some rodent populations in the Sierra Nevada of California. Ecological Monographs 14:166-192.
  26. Wilkins, K. T. 1982. Highways as barriers to rodent dispersal. Southwestern Naturalist 27: 459-460.
  27. Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder (editors). 1993. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Second edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. xviii + 1206 pp. Available online at: http://www.nmnh.si.edu/msw/.
  28. Wilson, D. E., and S. Ruff. 1999. The Smithsonian book of North American mammals. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C. 750 pp.