257.

Cotton Deermouse

Peromyscus gossypinus

French: Péromyscus des cotonniers / German: Baumwoll-Hirschmaus / Spanish: Raton ciervo de algodén

Other common names: Cotton Mouse; Key Largo Cotton Mouse (allapaticola)

Taxonomy. Hesperomys gossypinus Le Conte, 1853, “ Georgia,” USA.

Peromyscus gossypinus is in the leucopus species group. Seven subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution.

P.g.gossypinusLeConte,1853—SEVirginia,ENorthCarolina,SouthCarolina,EC&SLouisiana,SMississippi,SAlabama,Georgia,andNFlorida,USA.

P.g.allapaticolaSchwartz,1952—knownonlyfromthetypelocalityinextremeSFlorida,USA.

P.g.anastasaeBangs,1898—CumberlandI,Georgia,andAnastasiaI,Florida,USA.

P.g.megacephalusRhoads,1894—SEMissouri,SIllinois,SWKentucky,SEOklahoma,Arkansas,Tennessee,ETexas,N&WLouisiana,NMississippi,NAlabama,andNWGeorgia,USA.

P.g.palmariusBangs,1896—ShalfofFlorida,USA.

P.g.restrictusA.H.Howell,1939—knownonlyfromthetypelocalityinCWFlorida,USA.

P. g. telmaphilus Schwartz, 1952 — SW edge of Florida, USA.

Descriptive notes. Head—body 71-116 mm, tail 55-97 mm, ear 10-21 mm, hindfoot 16-26 mm; weight 17-46 g. The Cotton Deermouse is medium-sized, with dark golden brown dorsum and dusky to black mid-dorsal stripe. Sides generally have strong fulvous or cinnamon wash. Venter is white or creamy. Tail is bicolored (brown above and whitish below), sparsely haired, and shorter than head-body length. Feet are white. The Cotton Deermouse mostly resembles the White-footed Deermouse ( P. leucopus), but it is larger in all measurements.

Habitat. Mesic hardwood bottomlands. Typically, Cotton Deermice are found in areas with a wide variety of tree species but sometimes occur in old fields, scrublands, and mixed forests.

Food and Feeding. The Cotton Deermouse is thought to be an omnivore and opportunistic feeder.

Breeding. The Cotton Deermouse can breed year-round in southern parts ofits distribution; breeding season can be shorter in northern areas. Litters have 1-7 young (average 3:7).

Activity patterns. The Cotton Deermouse is presumably nocturnal.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List.

Bibliography. Bangs (1896), Calhoun (1941), Hall (1981), Musser & Carleton (2005), Pournelle (1952), Wolfe & Linzey (1977).