Perognathus

Perognathus is a genus of pocket mouse. Like other members of their family they are more closely related to pocket gophers than to true mice.

Perognathus

Venkat Sankar · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
pocket mousePBDB
Sits inside
PerognathinaePBDB
Diet
granivore, browserPBDB, for Heteromyidae
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 16 million years on record.

The record covers at least 16.3 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 23.04 Mya to 0 Mya.

Oligocene — about 0 of 140 occurrencesMiocene — about 92 of 140 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 19 of 140 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 28 of 140 occurrencesPleistocene24–23 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences16–16 Mya — about 10 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 12 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 12 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 12 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 12 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 5 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 5 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 5 occurrences10–9.4 Mya — about 5 occurrences9.4–8.6 Mya — about 2 occurrences8.6–7.8 Mya — about 2 occurrences7.8–7.1 Mya — about 2 occurrences7.1–6.3 Mya — about 2 occurrences6.3–5.5 Mya — about 2 occurrences5.5–4.7 Mya — about 2 occurrences4.7–3.9 Mya — about 7 occurrences3.9–3.1 Mya — about 7 occurrences3.1–2.4 Mya — about 7 occurrences2.4–1.6 Mya — about 8 occurrences1.6–785 ka Mya — about 4 occurrences785 ka–0 Mya — about 14 occurrences16.3 Mya11.7 ka23.5 Mya0 Mya

140 occurrences of Perognathus on record, most of them in the Miocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

140 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

31 formations

Barstow — 34.80°N, 117.00°WBarstow — 35.06°N, 117.11°WValentine — 42.70°N, 100.00°WValentine — 42.49°N, 98.11°WValentine — 42.81°N, 100.05°WValentine — 42.78°N, 100.03°WValentine — 42.80°N, 100.80°WDove Spring — 35.30°N, 118.50°WDove Spring — 35.37°N, 117.99°WBlanco — 33.70°N, 101.10°WCrowder — 34.80°N, 117.00°WMR Caliente — 34.30°N, 119.00°WRexroad — 37.10°N, 100.90°WRexroad — 37.20°N, 100.30°WCrooked Creek — 37.20°N, 100.30°WAsh Hollow — 42.39°N, 98.10°WAsh Hollow — 42.30°N, 98.00°WAlkali Canyon — 45.72°N, 120.20°WAlkali Canyon — 45.84°N, 119.29°WFort Randall — 43.10°N, 98.30°WTorreya — 30.50°N, 84.50°WWood Mountain — 49.17°N, 105.99°WMadison Valley — 45.93°N, 111.29°WColter — 43.90°N, 110.80°WAvawatz — 34.80°N, 117.00°WQuiburis — 32.50°N, 110.60°WVerde — 34.50°N, 112.50°WVerde — 34.77°N, 111.85°WSt. David — 32.00°N, 110.20°WSan Diego — 32.62°N, 117.00°WGlenns Ferry — 42.80°N, 114.90°WEsmeralda — 38.25°N, 117.90°WCaliente — 34.30°N, 119.00°WTesuque — 35.50°N, 106.20°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Perognathus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 7 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 35 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Perognathus and its relatives

Miocene

Where Perognathus and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

1,071 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 102 sites for Perognathus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

60 references

Each of the 140 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 48 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Perognathus

Credit
Venkat Sankar
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Perognathus merriami · ibm:gpp:CNMA 42177

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itPerognathinae through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Maximillian 1839