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Eastern deer mouse
The eastern deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) is a rodent native to eastern North America. It is a species of the genus Peromyscus, a closely related group of New World mice often called "deermice". When formerly grouped with the western deermouse (P. sonoriensis), it was once referred to as the North American deermouse, a species which is no longer recognized. It is fairly widespread across most of North America east of the Mississippi River, with the major exception being the lowland southeastern United States.
Like certain other Peromyscus species, it can be a vector and carrier of emerging infectious diseases such as hantaviruses and Lyme disease.
It is closely related to Peromyscus leucopus, the white-footed mouse.
The species in its former broad sense had 61 subspecies, but some of these now belong to P. sonoriensis. They are all tiny mammals that are plentiful in number. The eastern deermouse is a small rodent that lives in eastern North America and is closely related to the white-footed mouse, Peromyscus leucopus. Because the two species are extremely similar in appearance, they are best distinguished through red blood cell agglutination tests or karyotype techniques. They can also be distinguished physically by its long and multicolored tail. Deer mouse species, such as the eastern deermouse, the white-footed mouse, and the cactus mouse, are very often used for laboratory experimentation due to their self cleanliness and easy care.
The eastern deermouse is small in size, only 3 to 4 inches (8 to 10 cm) long, not including the tail. They have large beady eyes and large ears giving them good sight and hearing. Peromyscus maniculatus has soft fur which varies in color, from gray to brown, but all deermice have a distinguishable white underside and white feet. Deermice tails are covered with fine hairs, with the same dark/light split as the fur on the rest of its body. P. maniculatus has distinct subspecies. Of those most common in North America, the woodland form has longer hind legs, a longer tail, and larger ears than the prairie form.
Eastern deermice are nocturnal creatures which spend the daytime in areas such as trees or burrows, where they have nests made of plant material. The pups within litters of eastern deermice are kept by the mother within an individual home range, typically of 242 to 3000 square meters. Ranges may overlap, more likely with an opposite sex, as males have much greater home ranges than the more territorial females. Deermice that live within overlapping home ranges tend to recognize one another and frequently interact.
The woodland variety of P. maniculatus is an adept climber, and prefers tree cover well above the ground, while the prairie form prefers to move from burrow to burrow in open areas, avoiding cover.
Some eastern deermice are found at high elevations, where there are low levels of oxygen and ambient temperatures. They encounter year-round cold and hypoxia, undergoing their entire reproductive cycles under these harsh conditions. Chronic hypoxia can limit the growth of these high-elevation deermice during gestation, which can affect development and maternal physiology. However, several physiological adaptations allow them to survive in high-elevation environments, including a greater capacity for carbohydrate and lipid oxidation than low-elevation mice. Mouse populations living at different elevations show allelic variation among gene duplicates that encode the α-chain subunits of adult hemoglobin. Modifications in the α and β globin genes may also indicate an increase in hemoglobin-oxygen affinity and oxygen transport in these high-elevation populations.
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Eastern deer mouse
The eastern deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) is a rodent native to eastern North America. It is a species of the genus Peromyscus, a closely related group of New World mice often called "deermice". When formerly grouped with the western deermouse (P. sonoriensis), it was once referred to as the North American deermouse, a species which is no longer recognized. It is fairly widespread across most of North America east of the Mississippi River, with the major exception being the lowland southeastern United States.
Like certain other Peromyscus species, it can be a vector and carrier of emerging infectious diseases such as hantaviruses and Lyme disease.
It is closely related to Peromyscus leucopus, the white-footed mouse.
The species in its former broad sense had 61 subspecies, but some of these now belong to P. sonoriensis. They are all tiny mammals that are plentiful in number. The eastern deermouse is a small rodent that lives in eastern North America and is closely related to the white-footed mouse, Peromyscus leucopus. Because the two species are extremely similar in appearance, they are best distinguished through red blood cell agglutination tests or karyotype techniques. They can also be distinguished physically by its long and multicolored tail. Deer mouse species, such as the eastern deermouse, the white-footed mouse, and the cactus mouse, are very often used for laboratory experimentation due to their self cleanliness and easy care.
The eastern deermouse is small in size, only 3 to 4 inches (8 to 10 cm) long, not including the tail. They have large beady eyes and large ears giving them good sight and hearing. Peromyscus maniculatus has soft fur which varies in color, from gray to brown, but all deermice have a distinguishable white underside and white feet. Deermice tails are covered with fine hairs, with the same dark/light split as the fur on the rest of its body. P. maniculatus has distinct subspecies. Of those most common in North America, the woodland form has longer hind legs, a longer tail, and larger ears than the prairie form.
Eastern deermice are nocturnal creatures which spend the daytime in areas such as trees or burrows, where they have nests made of plant material. The pups within litters of eastern deermice are kept by the mother within an individual home range, typically of 242 to 3000 square meters. Ranges may overlap, more likely with an opposite sex, as males have much greater home ranges than the more territorial females. Deermice that live within overlapping home ranges tend to recognize one another and frequently interact.
The woodland variety of P. maniculatus is an adept climber, and prefers tree cover well above the ground, while the prairie form prefers to move from burrow to burrow in open areas, avoiding cover.
Some eastern deermice are found at high elevations, where there are low levels of oxygen and ambient temperatures. They encounter year-round cold and hypoxia, undergoing their entire reproductive cycles under these harsh conditions. Chronic hypoxia can limit the growth of these high-elevation deermice during gestation, which can affect development and maternal physiology. However, several physiological adaptations allow them to survive in high-elevation environments, including a greater capacity for carbohydrate and lipid oxidation than low-elevation mice. Mouse populations living at different elevations show allelic variation among gene duplicates that encode the α-chain subunits of adult hemoglobin. Modifications in the α and β globin genes may also indicate an increase in hemoglobin-oxygen affinity and oxygen transport in these high-elevation populations.