52.

Phillips’s Kangaroo Rat

Dipodomys phillipsii

French: Rat-kangourou de Phillips / German: Phillips-Kangururatte / Spanish: Rata canguro de Phillips

Other common names: Southern Bannertailed Kangaroo Rat

Taxonomy. Dipodomys phillipsii Gray, 1841,

“Mexico, near Real del Monte [= Mineral de Monte].”

Based on molecular sequence analyses, D. phillipsii is a member of the phillipsii species group with D. ornatus and D. elator. Until recently, D. phillipsii was considered conspecific with D. ornatus, but sequence analysis supports specific distinction. Three subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution.

D.p.phillipsiiGray,1841—ECMexico(ValleyofMexicooftheDistritoFederalandim-mediatelyadjacentareasofSHidalgo,NMorelos,WTlaxcala,andWPuebla).

D.p.oaxacaeHooper,1947—ECMexico(restricteddistributionintheTehuacan—-Cui-catlanValleyofSPueblaandadjacentNOaxaca).

D. p. perotensis Merriam, 1894 — EC Mexico (Oriental Basin of WC Veracruz and adjacent Tlaxcala and E Puebla).

Descriptive notes. Head-body 81-114 mm, tail 149-190 mm, ear 12-16 mm, hindfoot 36—44 mm; weight mean 53 g. Male Phillips's Kangaroo Rats are slightly larger than females. This is a medium-sized kangaroo rat, with four toes on hindfeet. Upper parts are cinnamon;tail is relatively long and bicolored; dark dorsal and ventralstripes unite in distal one-third, with black crest and usually with sharply contrasting white terminal tuft. White tail tuft is short in subspecies phillipsii and oaxacae (5-15 mm) and short or absent in perotensis. Chromosomal complement is not known. Phillips’s Kangaroo Rat (with an absent or short, 5—15 mm white tail tip) most closely resembles the Plateau Kangaroo Rat (D. ornatus), which has a somewhat longer white tail tip, always present, of 10-15 mm, and the Texas Kangaroo Rat (D. elator) with a longer white tail tip, 20-25 mm long.

Habitat. Open, sandy desert of the eastern Mesa Central along the eastern one-half of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. Phillips’s Kangaroo Rats occur (or occurred) in a series of terminal basins from the Valley of Mexico in the Distrito Federal and immediately adjacent Mexico and Hidalgo (phillipsii), through the Cuenca Oriental of Tlaxcala, Pueblo, and western Veracruz (perotensis), to the Tehuacan—Cuicatlan Valley of southern Puebla and northern Oaxaca (oaxacae). Little remaining natural habitat in these basins, often clustered around rocky knolls where plowing is impractical, has short grass with clumps of prickly pear cacti (Opuntia, Cactaceae). Distribution of Phillips's Kangaroo Rat closely matches that of the combined distribution of pocket gophers of the Cratogeomys merriami species group (Merriam’s Pocket Gopher, C. merriami; Oriental Basin Pocket Gopher, C. fulvescens, and Cofre de Perote Pocket Gopher, C. perotensis). Phillips's Kangaroo Rat shares a limited distribution in this area with subspecies of the Silky Pocket Mouse (Perognathus flavus mexicanus) and the endangered micro-endemic Perote Ground Squirrel (Xerospermophilus perotensis). It has been suggested that Phillips's Kangaroo Rat shares its burrows with the Silky Pocket Mouse. Burrows appear to be relatively simple, with 1-2 openings, often in bare, open fields. Entrances are not plugged.

Food and Feeding. Cheek pouches of Phillips’s Kangaroo Rats contain seeds and small green leaves of young plants.

Breeding. There is no information available for this species.

Activity patterns. There is no information available for this species.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. There is no information available for this species.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Populations of Phillips's Kangaroo Rats in the Valley of Mexico in the Distrito Federal are considered to be extinct.

Bibliography. Alvarez-Castafeda, Castro-Arellano, Lacher & Vazquez (2008b), Eisenberg (1963, 1993), Fernandez, J.A. (2012), Fernandez, J.A. et al. (2012), Genoways & Jones (1971), Hafner et al. (2005), Hall (1981), Jones, J.K. & Genoways (1975a), Jones, W.T. (1993), Merriam (1894), Williams et al. (1993).