Yellow-nosed cotton rat
| Yellow-nosed cotton rat | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Cricetidae |
| Genus: | Sigmodon |
| Species group: | S. hispidus |
| Species: | S. ochrognathus |
| Binomial name | |
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Sigmodon ochrognathus Bailey, 1902 |
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The yellow-nosed cotton rat (Sigmodon ochrognathus) is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is native to Mexico and to the states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas in the United States, where it inhabits mountain grassland, scrub, and pinyon-juniper woodland. It is common over much of its wide range and the IUCN considers it to be of "least concern".
In captivity, male yellow-nosed cotton rats grow to a maximum head and body length of about 155 mm (6 in) with females being slightly shorter and heavier. No significant sexual dimorphism has been noted in the wild. The head is short and broad and the tail is hairy, with many small scales no more than 0.5 mm (0.02 in) wide. The fur on the head, back, and sides is a dull gray color, apart from the snout and a ring round the eye which are ochre, features that distinguish this species from other members of the genus Sigmodon. The underparts are grayish-white, the feet grayish-buff, the upper side of the tail blackish and the underside gray.
The yellow-nosed cotton rat is native to Mexico and to the states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas in the United States. Its range extends from the eastern side of the Sierra Madre Occidental to central Durango and western Coahuila in Mexico, and from Arizona to New Mexico and scattered desert ranges of the Mesa del Norte in trans-Pecos Texas in the United States. Its habitat is mountainous areas with grassy meadows, rocky slopes, shrubland, ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, and pinyon-juniper woodland. It is generally found on the lower, drier slopes at altitudes below 1,950 m (6,400 ft) . This species is the most xerophilous in its genus.
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