Animalia > Chordata > Mammalia > Rodentia > Heteromyidae > Dipodomys > Dipodomys elator

Dipodomys elator (Texas kangaroo rat)

Wikipedia Abstract

The Texas kangaroo rat (Dipodomys elator) is a rodent of the family Heteromyidae. It is endemic to Texas where it lives in association with mesquite brush and in areas with firm clay-loam soils. It is a relatively large kangaroo rat that ranges in size from approximately 60 grams to 95 or more. Males and females of this species are sexually dimorphic, males being larger than females. Its distribution is within north-central Texas and it is only found within 13 counties. It was formerly found in Oklahoma, but is thought to have since been extirpated. The species is listed as threatened by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the IUCN lists the species as vulnerable.
View Wikipedia Record: Dipodomys elator

Endangered Species

Status: Vulnerable
View IUCN Record: Dipodomys elator

EDGE Analysis

Uniqueness Scale: Similiar (0) 
2
 Unique (100)
Uniqueness & Vulnerability Scale: Similiar & Secure (0) 
38
 Unique & Vulnerable (100)
ED Score: 5.21
EDGE Score: 3.21
Learn more at EDGE of Existence programme

Attributes

Adult Weight [1]  77 grams
Diet [2]  Carnivore (Invertebrates), Frugivore, Granivore, Herbivore
Diet - Fruit [2]  20 %
Diet - Invertibrates [2]  20 %
Diet - Plants [2]  30 %
Diet - Seeds [2]  30 %
Forages - Ground [2]  100 %
Litter Size [1]  3
Nocturnal [3]  Yes
Snout to Vent Length [4]  6 inches (16 cm)

Prey / Diet

Avena sativa (oats)[1]
Erodium cicutarium (redstem)[1]
Prosopis glandulosa (Texas mesquite)[1]
Sorghum halepense (aleppo milletgrass)[1]
Tribulus terrestris (puncturevine)[1]

Prey / Diet Overlap

Consumers

Parasitized by 
Fahrenholzia pinnata[1]
Meringis arachis[1]

Range Map

External References

NatureServe Explorer

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1Dipodomys elator, Dilford C. Carter, Wm. David Webster, J. Knox Jones, Jr., Clyde Jones, and Royal D. Suttkus, Mammalian Species No. 232, pp. 1-3 (1985)
♦ 2Hamish Wilman, Jonathan Belmaker, Jennifer Simpson, Carolina de la Rosa, Marcelo M. Rivadeneira, and Walter Jetz. 2014. EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95:2027
♦ 3Myers, P., R. Espinosa, C. S. Parr, T. Jones, G. S. Hammond, and T. A. Dewey. 2006. The Animal Diversity Web (online). Accessed February 01, 2010 at animaldiversity.org
♦ 4Nathan P. Myhrvold, Elita Baldridge, Benjamin Chan, Dhileep Sivam, Daniel L. Freeman, and S. K. Morgan Ernest. 2015. An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96:3109
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0