Please note this is about the text of this Justapedia article; it should not be taken to reflect on the subject of this article.
Do not restore or edit the blanked content on this page until the issue is resolved by an administrator, or a trustee.
If you have just labeled this page as a potential copyright issue, please follow the instructions for filing at the bottom of the box.
The previous content of this page or section has been identified as posing a potential copyright issue, as a copy or modification of the text from the source(s) below, and is now listed at Copyright problems(listing):
Unless the copyright status of the text of this page or section is clarified and determined to be compatible with Justapedia's content license, the problematic text and revisions or the entire page may be deleted one week after the time of its listing (i.e. after 00:57, 7 November 2022 (UTC)).
Temporarily, the original posting is still accessible for viewing in the page history.
To confirm your permission, you can either display a notice to this effect at the site of original publication or send an e-mail from an address associated with the original publication to justapedia.foundation. These messages must explicitly permit use under CC BY-SA and the GFDL. See Justapedia:Donating copyrighted materials.
Note that articles on Justapedia must be written from a neutral point of view and must be verifiable in published third-party sources; consider whether, copyright issues aside, your text is appropriate for inclusion in Justapedia.
You can demonstrate that this text is in the public domain or is already under a license suitable for Justapedia. Click "Show" to see how.
Otherwise, you may rewrite this page without copyright-infringing material. Click "Show" to read where and how.
Your rewrite should be placed on this page, where it will be available for an administrator or clerk to review it at the end of the listing period. Follow this link to create the temporary subpage.
Simply modifying copyrighted text is not sufficient to avoid copyright infringement—if the original copyright violation cannot be cleanly removed or the article reverted to a prior version, it is best to write the article from scratch. (See Justapedia:Close paraphrasing.)
For license compliance, any content used from the original article must be properly attributed; if you use content from the original, please leave a note at the top of your rewrite saying as much. You may duplicate non-infringing text that you had contributed yourself.
It is always a good idea, if rewriting, to identify the point where the copyrighted content was imported to Justapedia and to check to make sure that the contributor did not add content imported from other sources. When closing investigations, clerks and administrators may find other copyright problems than the one identified. If this material is in the proposed rewrite and cannot be easily removed, the rewrite may not be usable.
Posting copyrighted material without the express permission of the copyright holder is considered copyright infringement, which is both illegal and against Justapedia policy.
If you have express permission, this must be verified either by explicit release at the source or by e-mail or letter to the Justapedia Foundation. See Justapedia:Declaration of consent for all enquiries.
Policy requires that we block those who repeatedly post copyrighted material without express permission.
Instructions for filing
If you have tagged the article for investigation, please complete the following steps:
Place this notice on the talk page of the contributor of the copyrighted material: {{subst:Nothanks-web|pg=Florida mouse|url=Mammals of the eastern United States, among other book sources. Also see Wikipedia:Contributor copyright investigations/ItsLassieTime}} ~~~~
To hide a section instead of an entire article, add the template to the beginning of the section and {{Copyvio/bottom}} at the end of the portion you intend to blank.
The Florida mouse (Podomys floridanus) is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is the only species in the genusPodomys, which is the only mammal genus endemic to Florida. The Florida mouse (also known as the big-eared deermouse, the Florida deermouse, and the gopher mouse)[3][4] is found only in a limited area in central peninsular Florida and in one small area in the Florida panhandle. The mouse inhabits some of Florida's hottest and driest areas in the high pinelands, sandhills, flatlands, and coastal scrub.
The mouse is an omnivore, measures 195 mm (7.7 in) in total length, has relatively large ears, and displays brown to orange upperparts and white underparts. The mouse breeds throughout the year, and raises its two or three young per litter in the nesting chambers and passages it constructs in the burrow of the gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus). Real estate development and a decline in the gopher tortoise population threaten the mouse's future. The species is listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN.
The Florida mouse displays a soft and silky pelage, brown above and orange on the cheeks, shoulders, and lower sides. Underparts are white. The young are gray. The species has a skunk-like odor.[5] The mouse has relatively large, nearly naked ears (16 mm long or more); a relatively short tail approximately 80% of total body length; and large hind feet (24 mm long or more) with five, rather than the usual six, plantar tubercles.[2][5] There is no difference in appearance between males and females.[3]
The appearance of the Florida mouse is similar to the Peromyscus shown in this illustration.
In 1973, a biochemicalpolymorphism study was conducted in four sample areas of the species. Electrophoretically demonstrable variation was found in one or more populations at 15 of 39 (38%) of the loci examined, and two and sometimes three alleles per locus were detected. At the least, the findings give an indication of the kind of genetic variation that may be found between populations within a species. The amount of variation was similar to findings in examinations of Peromyscus polionotus, Sigmodon, and Dipodomys.[5]
Average measurements reported in 1993 of 30 adults were: total length 195 mm (7.7 in) 178–220 mm (7.0–8.7 in); tail 88 mm (3.5 in) 80–101 mm (3.1–4.0 in); hind foot 26 mm (1.0 in) 24–28 mm (0.94–1.10 in); ear 19 mm (0.75 in) 16–21.5 mm (0.63–0.85 in). The diploid number is 48 and dentition 1/1 0/0 0/0 3/3 total 16.[5]
The mouse inhabits some of Florida's driest locations. It is common in the sand pine (Pinus clausa) scrub and the high pinelands of turkey oak (Quercus laevis) and longleaf pine (Pinus palustris), and is found in the slash pine (Pinus elliottii) and turkey oak habitat of the southern ridge sandhills, and in scrubby flatlands, and in coastal scrub associations.[5] Home ranges average roughly 1 acre (0.40 ha)[10] and are smaller in the flatlands. Populations are greater in the scrub and flatlands than in the highlands.[6] Its largest populations may occur within Ocala National Forest and the scrubs along Lake Wales Ridge.[9]
Behavior
The Florida mouse is nocturnal,[3] and is active throughout the year except on especially cold nights.[9] The mouse can climb, but is primarily a terrestrial species. In laboratory experiments, P. floridanus used its forepaws to dig and throw substrate backwards, while other species mainly used their hindfeet to do the same.[4]
Shelter
Gopher tortoise burrow entrance
The Florida mouse has been called the gopher mouse because it shares the long, deep burrow of the gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus). The mouse makes nest chambers, small side passages, sometimes a pad of oak leaves and wiregrasses for chamber floors, and small chimney openings in the roof of the burrow. It uses these openings, the main entrance, and side passages for entrance to and exit from the burrow.[11] In the absence of gopher tortoise burrows, the mouse will use those of the oldfield mouse (Peromyscus polionotus) or will make its own.[9]
Diet
The Florida mouse is an omnivore, and its diet consists of acorns when available, insects, seeds, nuts, fungi, and other plant material and vertebrates.[10][12] A 1987 report indicates the mouse feeds on engorged ticks (Ornithodorus turicata americanus) that parasitize gopher frogs (Rana areolata) and gopher tortoises.[12]
Reproduction
Florida mice breed throughout the year with a peak between July and December, a lesser peak in January and February, and a lull or cessation in April and May. Unlike most murids, copulatory behavior lacks intravaginal thrusting, the intromission thrust is more intense than the dismount, there is no lock, and ejaculation occurs with every thrust.[4]
Gestation is about 23 or 24 days.[13] The mice dig side burrows off the main burrow of the gopher tortoise, line them with shredded plant material, and use them as nurseries.[3] In eight litters of young conceived in the wild but born in the laboratory, litter size numbers varied from two to four for an average of 3.1 per litter.[13] The young are born in nests in the burrow.[10] Newborn weigh 1.9–2.9 g (0.067–0.102 oz) and measure in total length 44 mm (1.7 in); tail length 12 mm (0.47 in); and hind foot length 8 mm (0.31 in). Teeth begin appearing on the fourth day, the young are active and agile about the 10th day, and the eyes open about the 16th day. Nursing is virtually non-stop for the first two weeks of life.[3] Weaning occurs at three to four weeks, and the young display adult behavior at this time.[13]
In 2010, exact population size was unknown, but estimated to be in the several thousands and decreasing.[10] Presumed predators are snakes, birds of prey, bobcats, raccoons, and foxes. A high number of shortened tails have been observed in the mice and a modified integument in the tail facilitates tail loss, probably as an anti-predator mechanism.[6]
Few wild individuals have a lifespan of over a year, though captive individuals may live for several years.[10] One captive male lived seven years, four months.[6]
Relations with humans and conservation
The species in all probability has little or no direct impact or influence on human interests and concerns but agricultural and real estate development are a threat to the species' very narrow habitat. Collecting specimens in the dry ridges is complicated by the millions of ants which eat the bait in the trap the moment it is set on the ground. Live collecting is the alternative, but the bait is usually digested by the time the animal is taken from the trap, making food research difficult if not impossible.[6]
As early as 1998, the Florida mouse was a federal C2 candidate taxon, and considered Threatened by the Florida Committee on Rare and Endangered Plants and Animals. The mouse was named a Species of Special Concern by the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission.[8] The Florida mouse inhabits a restricted habitat in the United States and that habitat is threatened not only by agricultural and real estate development but by wildfire suppression. Habitat decline is expected to continue into the future.[10][6] The mouse is dependent upon gopher tortoise burrows, but disease and habitat loss are responsible for decline in the tortoise population.[10]Red imported fire ants (Solenopsis invicta) threaten both tortoise and mouse populations. The IUCN has listed the species as Vulnerable and recommends further study of the species, maintenance of viable populations of gopher tortoises, and the preservation and management of suitable habitat for the species.[10] The mouse is protected on several conservation lands across central Florida.[9] Occurrences of the Florida mouse are protected at Archbold Biological Station, Ocala National Forest, and others.[10]
Chapman, Frank M. (1889), "Preliminary descriptions of two apparently new species of the genus Hesperomys from Florida", Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 2, hdl:2246/1701