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Kangaroo rats, genus Dipodomys, are small rodents native to North and Central America. The name derives from their bipedal form (they hop like tiny kangaroos) but the resemblance is purely visual: kangaroo rats and kangaroos are not related, other than in that both groups are mammals.
Twenty one species are currently recognised. Size varies from 100 to 200 mm, with a tail of equal or slightly greater length; weight can be anywhere between 35 and 180 grams. The most distinctive feature of the kangaroo rats is their very long, hind legs.
Like the jerboas of African and Asian deserts and the hopping mice of outback AustraliaAustralia is the sixth-largest country in the world (geographically), the only one to occupy an entire continent, and the largest in the region of Australasia. Australia includes the island of Tasmania, which is an Australian State. Its neighbouring count, kangaroo rats have highly developed hind legs, live in deep burrows which shelter them from the worst of the desert heat, and rarely drink water. Instead, they have a highly water-efficient metabolisim (their kidneyThe kidneys are bean-shaped excretory organs in vertebrates. Part of the urinary system, the kidneys filter wastes (especially urea) from the blood and excrete them, along with water, as urine. The medical field that studies the kidneys and diseases affecs are at least four times more efficient than those of humans), and manufacture water by chemical breakdown of their food. Despite sharing so many characteristics with jerboas and hopping mice, the three groups are not closely related to one another: the similarities are the result of convergent evolutionConvergent evolution is an evolutionary process in which organisms not closely related independently acquire some characteristic or characteristics in common. This usually reflects similar responses to similar environmental conditions. Structures that are.
Kangaroo rats are found in arid and semi-arid areas of the United StatesThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in and MexicoThis article is about the country Mexico. For other meanings, see Mexico (disambiguation The United Mexican States or Mexico ( Spanish: Estados Unidos Mexicanos or Mexico regarding the use of the variant spelling Mejico see section The name below) is a co which retain some grass or other vegetation. Their diet includes seeds, leaves, stems, buds, some fruit, and insects. Most kangaroo rat species use their burrows and buried caches nearby to store food against the possibility of bad seasons. The Banner-tailed Kangaroo Rat has been recorded making burrows with several storage chambers up to 25 cm in diameter each, and containing almost 6 kilograms of stored food.
Unlike the jerboas and hopping mice, but like their close relatives the pocket mice , kangaroo rats have large cheek pouches that open on either side of the mouth and extend back to the shoulders. They fill the pouches with food or nesting material ready for transport back to the burrow, then empty them by turning them inside out, like pockets, with their forpaws. There is a special muscle that, once the pouch is empty and clean, pulls it back in again.
The overall colour of the kangaroo rats can be anywhere between pale sandy yellow and dark brown, with a white underside and often with white banding across the thighs. Tails tend to be dark with white sides and a tuft of longer hairs. Facial markings vary from one species to another, but all have an oil gland between the shoulders.
- Family Heteromydae
- Subfamily Dipodomyinae
- Ord's Kangaroo Rat, Dipodomys ordii
- Gulf Coast Kangaroo Rat, Dipodomys compactus
- Chisel-toothed Kangaroo Rat, Dipodomys microps
- Panamint Kangaroo Rat, Dipodomys panamintinus
- Stephen's Kangaroo Rat, Dipodomys stephensi
- Big-eared Kangaroo Rat, Dipodomys elephantinus
- Narrow-faced Kangaroo Rat, Dipodomys venustus
- Agile Kangaroo Rat, Dipodomys agilis
- Heerman's Kangaroo Rat, Dipodomys heermanni
- California Kangaroo Rat, Dipodomys californicus
- San Quintin Kangaroo Rat, Dipodomys gravipes
- Giant Kangaroo RatGiant Kangaroo Rat : Animalia : Chordata : Mammalia : Eutheria : Rodentia : Heteromyidae Dipodomys ingens Binomial name Dipodomys ingens Merriam, 1904) The Giant Kangaroo Rat Dipodomys ingens was put on the endangered species list. The area of this listin, Dipodomys ingens
- Bannertail Kangaroo Rat , Dipodomys spectabilis
- Nelson's Kangaroo Rat, Dipodomys nelsoni
- Texas Kangaroo Rat, Dipodomys elator
- Phillip's Kangaroo Rat, Dipodomys phillipsii
- Merriam's Kangaroo Rat, Dipodomys merriami
- San Jose Island Kangaroo Rat, Dipodomys insularis
- Margarita Island Kangaroo Rat, Dipodomys margaritae
- Fresno Kangaroo Rat, Dipodomys nitratoides
- Desert Kangaroo Rat, Dipodomys deserti
