Animalia > Chordata > Mammalia > Rodentia > Cricetidae > Oryzomys > Oryzomys palustris

Oryzomys palustris (marsh rice rat)

Synonyms:
Language: Spanish

Wikipedia Abstract

The marsh rice rat (Oryzomys palustris) is a semiaquatic North American rodent in the family Cricetidae. It usually occurs in wetland habitats, such as swamps and salt marshes. It is found mostly in the eastern and southern United States, from New Jersey and Kansas south to Florida and northeasternmost Tamaulipas, Mexico; its range previously extended further west and north, where it may have been a commensal in corn-cultivating communities. Weighing about 40 to 80 g (1.4 to 2.8 oz), the marsh rice rat is a medium-sized rodent that resembles the common black and brown rat. The upperparts are generally gray-brown, but are reddish in many Florida populations. The feet show several specializations for life in the water. The skull is large and flattened, and is short at the front.
View Wikipedia Record: Oryzomys palustris

EDGE Analysis

Uniqueness Scale: Similiar (0) 
0
 Unique (100)
Uniqueness & Vulnerability Scale: Similiar & Secure (0) 
7
 Unique & Vulnerable (100)
ED Score: 2.53
EDGE Score: 1.26
Learn more at EDGE of Existence programme

Attributes

Adult Weight [1]  65 grams
Birth Weight [1]  3.5 grams
Diet [2]  Carnivore (Invertebrates), Frugivore, Granivore, Herbivore
Diet - Fruit [2]  20 %
Diet - Invertibrates [2]  20 %
Diet - Plants [2]  40 %
Diet - Seeds [2]  20 %
Forages - Ground [2]  100 %
Female Maturity [1]  55 days
Male Maturity [1]  55 days
Gestation [1]  25 days
Litter Size [1]  5
Litters / Year [3]  6
Maximum Longevity [3]  2 years
Snout to Vent Length [3]  6 inches (14 cm)
Weaning [1]  13 days

Ecoregions

Protected Areas

Prey / Diet

Cistothorus palustris (Marsh Wren)[1]
Sporobolus alterniflorus (saltmarsh cordgrass)[1]

Prey / Diet Overlap

Competing SpeciesCommon Prey Count
Branta bernicla (Brent Goose)1

Predators

Consumers

Range Map

External References

NatureServe Explorer

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1Oryzomys palustris, James L. Wolfe, Mammalian Species No. 176, pp. 1-5 (1982)
♦ 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
♦ 3Nathan 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
♦ 4Eira barbara, Steven J. Presley, MAMMALIAN SPECIES No. 636, pp. 1–6 (2000)
♦ 5Jorrit H. Poelen, James D. Simons and Chris J. Mungall. (2014). Global Biotic Interactions: An open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics.
♦ 6Gibson, D. I., Bray, R. A., & Harris, E. A. (Compilers) (2005). Host-Parasite Database of the Natural History Museum, London
♦ 7International Flea Database
Ecoregions provided by World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF). WildFinder: Online database of species distributions, ver. 01.06 Wildfinder Database
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