Distribution, morphology, and karyotype of San Joaquin pocket mice from the western Mojave Desert

Abstract

The San Joaquin pocket mouse (Perognathus inornatus) is endemic to California and currently includes three subspecies (P. i. inornatus, neglectus, and psammophilus). P. inornatus from the western Mojave Desert have been assigned to the subspecies neglectus based on similar morphology. During the course of live-trapping projects between 1990 and 2017, we captured P. inornatus at several locations in the Mojave Desert and gathered information on habitat associations, relative abundance, seasonal activity, and field identification. P. inornatus was found at elevations ranging from 668–1,109 m above mean sea level in creosote bush scrub, allscale scrub, Joshua tree woodland, rubber rabbitbrush scrub, spinescale scrub, and California juniper woodland. The capture locations and our review of museum specimens indicate that, at a minimum, the species’ range in the Mojave Desert encompasses approximately 7,000 km2 primarily in the Antelope Valley, extending at least as far north as the Rand Mountains, east to the vicinity of Hinkley, south to Palmdale, and west to near Gorman. P. inornatus capture rates were typically low relative to other nocturnal rodents, and it was not found consistently at localities at which it had been captured previously. Adults were sexually dimorphic, with males significantly larger than females. P. inornatus was significantly larger than the sympatric little pocket mouse (P. longimembris) for length of head-body, total length and body mass, and possessed a relatively shorter tail. We collected 15 specimens of P. inornatus from nine localities in the western Mojave Desert for cytogenetic analysis and each possessed the same karyotype, characterized by a diploid complement of 52 chromosomes, which has not been previously described for the genus. We argue that the 52-chromosome form should be considered distinct for conservation purposes, because it occupies a relatively small geographic area that is being subjected to increasing habitat loss and fragmentation due to residential, commercial, and renewable energy development.