Learn more about Mailchimp's privacy practices here. Visit Teachers - Bring Your Class! Become a Member! Adopt a friend! Green Initiatives. Gift a Virtual Program! Share your photos! Email Address. Kinney Rd. The giant kangaroo rat Dipodomys ingens is the largest of more than 20 species in the genus Dipodomys , which is in the family Heteromyidae.
This family includes kangaroo rats, kangaroo mice, and pocket mice. Their name is based on the fact that they are adapted for two-footed bipedal hopping like a kangaroo.
Adult giant kangaroo rats weigh 4. They have large, flattened heads and short necks. Large, fur-lined cheek pouches extend as deep pockets of skin along the sides if the head. Their hind limbs are large compared to the size of their forelimbs. Their tails are longer than their combined head and body length. The tails have a crest of long hairs, terminating in a large tuft. Ord's kangaroo rat D. Two species of the smaller kangaroo mouse genus Microdipodops occur in the Great Basin Desert.
Curious Facts Kangaroo rats are small, seed-eating rodents of the genus Dipodomys. Kangaroo rats are adapted for survival in an arid environment. Many of the 22 species of kangaroo rats occur only in California. Kangaroo rats have the ability to convert the dry seeds they eat into water. Kangaroo rats neither sweat nor pant like other animals to keep cool. Kangaroo rats have specialized kidneys which allow them to dispose of waste materials with very little output of water.
Most kangaroo rats hop on their hind feet, using their tails for balance. Related Species There are 22 species of kangaroo rats in North America with many recognized subspecies. The various species of kangaroo rats exhibit numerous differences in physical appearance, adaptations and behavior. The San Joaquin kangaroo rat D. Merriam's kangaroo rat D.
It has light yellow to dark brown fur on top, with a white underneath. The long tail has a wide white stripe, and a tufted end. These bipedal mammals hop on 4-toed hind feet, using their tails for balance.
Adult banner-tailed kangaroo rats D. Banner-tailed kangaroo rat reproduction occurs year-round. Seeds are collected during seed production months in the spring and fall and transported to underground caches via cheek pouches. However, that the males are larger than the females suggests competition between males for mating.
This type of male-male competition is usually associated with some males obtaining matings with more females than other males do. Copulatory plugs are formed after mating, and these are typically a form of post-copulatory competition between males.
This suggests that females are likely to mate with multiple males. It seems likely, therefore, that the mating system is polygynadrous. However, there is a brief precopulatory period when the male and female halt their aggressive behavior.
Reproductive activity begins early in January and continues through early July. Adult females will come into estrus days post-partum and accept mating attempts by males. Best et al. A few hours after copulation, a copulatory plug forms in the vaginal orifice. This persists for several days, preventing or inhibiting further mating. The gestation period ranges from days and the number of embryos ranges from One or two litters are produced annually.
Young are born headfirst and the mother assists delivery by pulling on the fetal membrane. After parturition, the mother will kick sand on the neonates, perhaps to dry them. Sexual maturity probably occurs around 2 months of age, as is common for other species of Dipodomys. The mass of D. The neonate is approximately 52 mm in length, and is naked, with thin, pink, transparent skin.
Complete pigmentation and furring appear by weaning, around 21 days of age Best, Females nurse their young in the nest. Immediately after they are born, a female kicks sand onto her offspring. This may help to dry them off. Although little has been reported on the longevity of wild D. Although principally nocturnal, D. Much of this time is spent modifying burrows: plugging entrances, opening new entrances and digging new tunnels.
Desert kangaroo rats are extremely solitary, and except when a female has a litter, no burrow has more that one occupant. Individuals are highly aggressive and actively drive conspecifics out of their territory Best, Desert kangaroo rats will frequently traverse open areas at high speeds in search of large clumps of seeds. In a single night, an individual may forage in a radius of up to m.
When an unknown object is encountered these kangaroo rats are is known to kick sand at the object to determine whether it is alive and if it is a threat. Desert kangaroo rats have been reported to kick enough sand onto traps they encounter to either spring them or bury them.
Desert kangaroo rats are excellent swimmers and, like all other kangaroo rats, do not hibernate Best et al. Desert kangaroo rats do not generally eat succulent plants.
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