Mound Structure in Three Taxa of Mexican Kangaroo Rats (Dipodomys spectabilis cratodon, D. s. zygomaticus and D. nelsoni)

1 January 1988

journal article
research article
Published by JSTOR in The American Midland Naturalist

Vol. 119 (1) , 216-220
https://doi.org/10.2307/2426071

Abstract

Intertaxon variation in eight characters of 83 active burrows of kangaroo rats (Dipodomys spectabilis cratodon, D. s. zygomaticus and D. nelsoni) was studied in the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Zacatecas and Coahuila. Six characters exhibited significant intertaxon heterogeneity. Mounds constructed by D. s. cratodon were significantly smaller in diameter and height, those of D. s. zygomaticus were significantly closer together, and those of D. nelsoni had significantly more total openings and active openings and significantly smaller average diameter of inactive openings, than those of the other taxa. The two subspecies of D. spectabilis construct mounds that are more similar to each other than either is to D. nelsoni. Burrow structure may be a useful taxonomic character.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: