Conservation status of rodents of the families Geomyidae and Heteromyidae of Mexico

Abstract

Mexico is considered a mammal diversity hotspot, and most conservation efforts involving mammals focus on large and charismatic species. Herein, we provide an assessment of the conservation status of species that are often overlooked in conservation programs, Mexican rodents of the families Geomyidae (pocket gophers) and Heteromyidae (pocket mice and kangaroo rats). Based on distributional maps and recent systematic studies, a taxonomic and biogeographical distributional checklist was made. The conservation lists of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the Mexican Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales were used to identify 8 geomyid species, and 8 species and 27 subspecies of heteromyids as endangered. Major threats to their conservation are change in land use, destruction of habitat and a lack of knowledge about their current distribution and population trends.

Checklist of ectoparasites of cricetid and heteromyid rodents in México

“…The families Cricetidae and Heteromyidae are particularly diverse in México, with approximately 150 and 40 species, respectively, representing the majority of the Mexican rodent fauna (Ceballos 2014;Burgin et al 2018). Being so diverse, representatives of these rodent families are generally well-studied in México (e. g., Rogers et al 2011;Fernández et al 2012;Fernández et al 2014;Porter et al 2017). Notably, there have been many attempts to characterize the parasite fauna of cricetid and heteromyid rodents.…”

Conservation biogeography in the Mexican Mountain Component: bridging conservation and patterns of endemism

“…As such, analyses were based on 24 species and subspecies (Table 1). The taxonomic nomenclature was based on the Mammals of Mexico List by Ramírez-Pulido et al (2014) and the proposal of Fernández et al (2014) for the families Geomyidae and Heteromyidae. The analyzed species include two rabbits, three bats, three shrews, four pocket gophers, four squirrels, and eight rats and mice.…”

Morphology and stomach content of the Goldman´s diminutive woodrat Nelsonia goldmani (Cricetidae: Neotominae)

“…Mexico hosts a wide diversity of rodents with an estimated number of 233 species, which 140 belongs to the family Cricetidae (Ramírez-Pulido et al 2014). Nevertheless, most of these species have scarce information about its basic biology, such as demography, ecological role in their communities, and history life, to mention some examples (Fernández et al 2014). Furthermore, some of these rodents are listed under some category of extinction risk, and for which the lack of information is critical, for instance, for the develop-ment of plans aimed to their habitat conservation (SEMAR-NAT 2010).…”