Order Rodentia (rodents)

Mammals of BC
Part A: Marsupials, Insectivores, Bats, Rodents, Lagomorphs
Class Mammalia
Order Monotremata (monotremes)
Order Marsupialia (marsupials)
Order Edentata (sloths and anteaters)
Order Soricomorpha (shrews, moles)
Order Chiroptera (bats)
Order Rodentia (rodents)
Order Lagomorpha (hares, rabbits, pikas)
Order Carnivora (carnivores)
Order Pinnipedia (seals, sea lions, walrus)
Order Sirenia (sirens, manatees)
Order Cetacea (whales, dolphins, porpoises)
Order Artiodactyla (even-toed ungulates)
Order Perissodactyla (odd-toed ungulates)
Order Proboscidea (elephants)
Order Primates (lemurs, monkeys, apes)
BC Mammalian Orders
Order Marsupialia (1 species)
Order Soricomorpha(15 species)
Order Chiroptera (16 species)
Order Rodentia (46 species)
Order Lagomorpha (7 species)
Order Carnivora (22 species)
Order Pinnipedia (5 species)
Order Cetacea (24+ species)
Order Artiodactyla (10 species)
Order Perissodactyla (1 species)
Order Primates (1 species)
148 sp.
Order Marsupialia (marsupials)
1 species: North American Opossum (Didelphis virginiana)
North American Opossum (Didelphis virginiana)
• Prehensile, naked, scaly tail
North American Opossum (Didelphis virginiana)
• Prehensile, naked, scaly tail
• Females with a pouch
• First toe on hind foot opposable and clawless
North American Opossum (Didelphis virginiana)
“Playing possum” – involuntary physiological response to
extreme fear near coma up to 4 hours
North American Opossum (Didelphis virginiana)
• First recorded in Cloverdale in 1946
• Introduced to Hornby Island in 1986
• DOR near Victoria airport in 1992; four seen in 1992 near Cordova
Bay
Order Soricomorpha
(previously in Insectivora)
shrews and moles
How to distinguish between shrews
and moles:
Moles have
enlarged front feet
with broad palms
and large claws
Shrews have
smaller front feet
and the claws are
not long
Shrews
• Small mammals with long pointed noses
• Eyes and external ears small but visible
• Skull long and narrow and lacks
zygomatic arch
•Large incisors and red pigment on the
tips of teeth (iron deposit)
mole
shrew
Shrews
• Feed on invertebrates and sometimes small fish
and larval amphibians
•Water shrews have a fringe of hairs on their feet
for swimming
Moles
• Front
feet & limbs highly modified for digging
• Short tail
• Long snout, small eyes and short neck
•No tympanic bullae and no external ears (pinnae)
• Fur short and can lay in any direction
•Feed mainly on earthworms
Order Chiroptera (bats)
• 17 species in BC
• Forelimbs modified for flight
Order Chiroptera (bats)
• Hindlimbs small and weak and knee joint points backwards
• Calcar – a cartilaginous spur from an ankle bone
Order Chiroptera (bats)
Order Chiroptera (bats)
• Large ears with tragus
• Ecolocation
• Insect eaters
Order Chiroptera (bats)
•Torpor – males enter torpor
daily, females rarely enter
torpor
• Hibernation – prolonged
drop in body temperature
and metabolic rate
Order Rodentia (rodents)
Family mountain beavers
Family squirrels
Family pocket gophers
Family pocket mice
Family beavers
Family rats, mice, voles, lemmings
Family jumping mice
Family porcupines
Order Rodentia (rodents)
Family mountain beavers – 1 species
The most “primitive” living rodent.
• Very short tail
• White spot just
below ear
Mountain Beaver (Aplodontia rufa)
Order Rodentia (rodents)
Family squirrels
Mainland BC
Northern Flying Squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus)
Order Rodentia (rodents)
Northern Flying Squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus)
Dark eyes with a black ring
nocturnal
Diet: fungi, lichens, berries, seeds
Order Rodentia (rodents)
Northern Flying Squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus)
Can glide up to 50 m (mean 20 m) from tree to tree
Order Rodentia (rodents)
Family squirrels - marmots
Hoary Marmot
(M. caligata)
M. vancouverensis
Yellow-bellied Marmot
(M. flaviventris)
Woodchuck (M. monax)
Order Rodentia (rodents)
Family squirrels
Four species of ground squirrels (Spermophilus spp.)
Order Rodentia (rodents)
Family squirrels - chipmunks
(Tamias spp.)
Order Rodentia (rodents)
Family squirrels
Douglas’ Squirrel
(Tamiasciurus douglasii)
Red Squirrel
(Tamiasciurus hudsonicus)
Order Rodentia (rodents)
Family squirrels
Introduced species
Eastern Fox Squirrel (Sciurus
niger)
Okanagan
Eastern Grey Squirrel (Sciurus
carolinensis)
Vancouver Island, Lower Mainland
Order Rodentia (rodents)
Family pocket gophers
Northern Pocket Gopher
(Thomomys talpoides)
Fur-lined external cheek pouches
Order Rodentia (rodents)
Family pocket mice
Fur-lined external cheek pouches
Great Basin Pocket Mouse
(Perognathus parvus)
Southern dry interior of BC
Order Rodentia (rodents)
Family beavers – 1 species
Beaver (Castor canadensis)
Beaver (Castor canadensis)
Order Rodentia (rodents)
Family Muridae: rats, mice, voles, lemmings
Order Rodentia (rodents)
Family Muridae: rats, mice, voles, lemmings
Scaly and
laterally flat
tail
Muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus)
Hind foot
partially
webbed with
stiff hairs
Order Rodentia (rodents)
Family Muridae: rats, mice, voles, lemmings
Muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus)
Order Rodentia (rodents)
Family Muridae: rats, mice, voles, lemmings
Short tail
Northern Bog Lemming (Synaptomys borealis)
Order Rodentia (rodents)
Family Muridae: rats, mice, voles, lemmings
• 10 species of voles
(Microtus spp.) in BC
• Stocky bodies, short legs
and a short tail
Townsend’s Vole (Microtus townsendii)
The difference between mice and voles
Mice have large eyes, large ears, long tails (at least as
long as their bodies), pointy noses.
Voles have small eyes, small ears, short tails, blunt noses.
Order Rodentia (rodents)
Family Muridae: rats, mice, voles, lemmings
Introduced species
Norway Rat (Rattus norvegicus)
Black Rat (Rattus rattus)
a.k.a. “roof rat”
Order Rodentia (rodents)
Tail shorter than
head and body
Norway Rat (Rattus norvegicus)
Tail longer than
head and body
Black Rat (Rattus rattus)
Order Rodentia (rodents)
Ears smaller
Ears cover eyes
when pushed
forward
Norway Rat (Rattus norvegicus)
Black Rat (Rattus rattus)
Order Rodentia (rodents)
Family Muridae: rats, mice, voles, lemmings – 20 species
Introduced species
House Mouse (Mus musculus)
• Associated with humans
• Naked, scaly tail
Similar native species
have furred tails
Deer Mouse
(Peromyscus maniculatus)
Western Harvest Mouse
(Reithrodontomys megalotis)
Order Rodentia (rodents)
Family Muridae: rats, mice, voles, lemmings
• Long furry tail
• Dorsal fur brown and ventral
fur white
• Dorsal surface of hind foot
white
Deer Mouse
(Peromyscus maniculatus)
Order Rodentia (rodents)
Family Muridae: rats, mice, voles, lemmings
• Long bushy tail and long
vibrissae
• Skin gland on chest and
urination used to mark
territory
Bushy-tailed Woodrat a.k.a. “packrat”
(Neotoma cinerea)
Order Rodentia (rodents)
Family jumping mice – 3 species
• Long hind limbs and hind feet
• Very long nearly naked tails
Jumping mice (Zapus spp).
Order Rodentia (rodents)
Family porcupines
Porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum)
Order Lagomorpha (lagomorphs)
Pikas, hares and rabbits
American Pika (Ochotona princeps)
Small ears
No tail
Order Lagomorpha (lagomorphs)
Family pikas
American Pika
(Ochotona princeps)
Collared Pika (Ochotona collaris)
Southern BC
Extreme northwestern BC
Order Lagomorpha (lagomorphs)
Family hares and rabbits
3 native
species
in BC
Last record in 1980
White-tailed Jackrabbit
(Lepus townsendii)
Nuttall’s Cottontail
(Sylvilagus nuttallii)
Order Lagomorpha (lagomorphs)
2 introduced species
Eastern Cottontail
(Sylvilagus floridanus)
Fraser Valley (1952) and
southern Vancouver Island
(1964)
European Rabbit
(Oryctolagus cuniculus)
Victoria, Triangle Island,
Scott Islands
How to distinguish between rodents
and lagomorphs
Lagomorphs: Tail not
visible or like a
powder puff
Rodents:
Longer tail,
not like a
powder puff
How to distinguish between rodents
and lagomorphs
Side of rostrum extensively fenestrated in lagomorphs
Double upper incisors, one behind the other, in lagomorphs
How to distinguish between rodents
and lagomorphs
Rodents
Lagomorphs