289.

Sinaloan Deermouse

Peromyscus simulus

French: Péromyscus de San Blas / German: Sinaloa-Hirschmaus / Spanish: Ratén ciervo de Sinaloa

Other common names: Nayarit Deermouse, Nayarit Mouse, Sinaloan Mouse

Taxonomy. Peromyscus spicilegus stimulus Osgood, 1904, San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico.

Peromyscus stimulus 1s in the boylii species group. It was originally described as a subspecies of P. spicilegus, was reevaluated and placed as a subspecies of P. boyliz, and finally elevated to a distinct species based on chromosomal and morphologic evidence. Monotypic.

Distribution. Coastal areas of S Sinaloa and Nayarit, Mexico.

Descriptive notes. Head—body c.101 mm, tail 90-106 mm, ear 17-19 mm, hindfoot 22-25 mm; weight 22-36 g. The Sinaloan Deermouse is small, with brown or tawny dorsum and darker hairs forming stripe along back. Sides have broad orcherous lateral line. Venter is creamy white, often with tawny pectoral spot. Dark eye-ring is usually present. Feet are white but with black band near metatarsal area. Tail is slightly bicolored (darker above than below), as long as head—body length, and generally welltufted at end. It is morphologically similar to the Durango Deermouse (FP. schmidly) and Carleton’s Deermouse ( P. carletoni). It can be distinguished from the Gleaning Deermouse ( P. spicilegus) by hourglass-shaped interorbital region instead of angular interorbital region.

Habitat. Tropical deciduous lowlands and thorn forests of arid upper tropical zone west of the Sierra Madre Occidental from sea level to elevations of c.244 m. The Sinaloan Deermouse most frequently occurs in floodplains and is generally absent from drier hillsides, except for thorn scrublands near Mazatlan, Nayarit. It also has been captured in mangrove swamps, palm groves, arroyos, and Acacia (Fabaceae) thickets, near areas with disturbed vegetation and crops of bananas.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. Pregnant Sinaloan Deermice were caught in April, with 1-3 embryos/female.

Activity patterns. The Sinaloan Deermouse is presumably nocturnal.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Vulnerable on The IUCN Red List.

Bibliography. Baker & Greer (1962), Carleton (1977), Carleton et al. (1982), Hooper (1955), Melgar (2014a), Musser & Carleton (2005), Osgood (1909), Roberts et al. (2001), Schmidly & Bradley (1995), Schmidly & Schroeter (1974).