Pallid beach mouse
| Pallid beach mouse | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Cricetidae |
| Subfamily: | Neotominae |
| Genus: | Peromyscus |
| Species: | |
| Subspecies: | †P. p. decoloratus |
| Trinomial name | |
| †Peromyscus polionotus decoloratus A.H. Howell, 1939 | |
The pallid beach mouse or Ponce de Leon beach mouse (Peromyscus polionotus decoloratus), is an extinct subspecies of the oldfield mouse, a rodent in the family Cricetidae. It was a subspecies of the genus Peromyscus, a closely related group of New World mice often called "deermice". It was endemic to Florida in the United States.
Distribution
It was known from two locations in Florida: Ponce Park, Volusia County and Bulow, Flagler County.
Description
The average pallid beach mouse was 4 to 8 centimetres (1.6 to 3.1 in) in length. This subspecies burrowed into dunes for protection.
Extinction
The exact cause of extinction is unknown, but it is presumed to have been from a combination of habitat destruction due to property development, competition with invasive rodents, and predation from feral cats.
References
- ^ "NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 21 March 2023.