Dipodomys merriami parvus

Dipodomys merriami parvus NatureServe Explorer Species Reports — NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and Canada. NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports — ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of North America and the world.

FWS Digital Media Library — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video. The San Bernardino kangaroo rat (Dipodomys merriami parvus) is a species of rodent in the family Heteromyidae. It is one of 19 recognized subspecies of Merriam’s kangaroo rat (Dipodomys merriami) that are spread throughout the arid regions of the southwestern United States and Mexico. Like Dipodomys merriami, the San Bernardino kangaroo rat has the diagnostic trait of having four toes on its hind legs. Additionally, because of its geographic isolation, it has become the most highly differentiated subspecies of D. merriami. D. m. parvus is substantially darker and smaller than the other two D. merriami subspecies that live in Southern California (Dipodomys merriami merriami and Dipodomys merriami collinus). This marked adaptation to its habitat has led Lidicker to say that “it seems likely to have achieved nearly species rank.” (Lidicker 1960)