Fig. 1. Skull of Nilopegamys plumbeus x 1 1/9Source: Osgood, Wilfred Hudson. 1928. A new genus of aquatic rodents from Abyssinia. Field Museum of Natural History Zoological series 12(15):185-189. Biodiversity Heritage Library: http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2827398
Nilopegamys plumbeus. Drawn by L. L. Pray after a field study by L. A. Fuertes. Source: Osgood, Wilfred Hudson. 1928. A new genus of aquatic rodents from Abyssinia. Field Museum of Natural History Zoological series 12(15):185-189. Biodiversity Heritage Library: http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2827395
Florida salt marsh voleJason Coates, an engineering equipment operator at Lower Swannee National Wildlife Refuge in Florida, holds an endangered salt marsh vole. The shy mammal is one of many small creatures in harm’s way if oil reaches the Big Bend area of Florida’s Gulf Coast.Source: USFWS: Also Imperiled by Oil
This is a deer mouse, Peromyscus maniculatus, a hantavirus carrier that becomes a threat when it enters human habitation in rural and suburban areas.Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) is a deadly disease transmitted by infected rodents through urine, droppings, or saliva. Humans can contract the disease when they breathe in aerosolized virus. HPS was first recognized in 1993, and has since been identified throughout the United States. Although rare, HPS is potentially deadly. Rodent control in and around the home remains the primary strategy for preventing hantavirus infection. All hantaviruses known to cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) are carried by New World rats and mice of the family Muridae, subfamily Sigmodontinae, which contains at least 430 species that are widespread throughout North and South America.Created:
This photograph depicted a deer mouse, Peromyscus maniculatus, which has been determined to be one of the reservoirs and transmitters of the Hantavirus. Through the deposition of its waste products in, and around human habitation, this mouse becomes a carrier of the virus responsible for causing Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, or HPS.P. maniculatus is a deceptively cute animal, with big eyes and big ears. Its head and body are normally about 2 - 3 inches long, and the tail adds another 2 - 3 inches in length. You may see it in a variety of colors, from gray to reddish brown, depending on its age. The underbelly is always white and the tail has sharply defined white sides. The deer mouse is found almost everywhere in North America. Though this mouse prefers woodlands, it also turns up in desert areas.Created:
This photograph depicted a cotton rat, Sigmodon hispidus, whose habitat includes the southeastern United States, and way down into Central and South America. Its body is larger than the deer mouse, Peromyscus maniculatus, and measures about 5 - 7 inches, which includes the head and body; the tail measures an additional 3 - 4 inches. Its hair is longer and coarser than P. maniculatus, and is a grayish-brown color, sometimes grayish-black. The cotton rat prefers overgrown areas with shrubs and tall grasses.The cotton rat is a hantavirus carrier that becomes a threat when it enters human habitation in rural and suburban areas. Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) is a deadly disease transmitted by infected rodents through urine, droppings, or saliva. Humans can contract the disease when they breathe in aerosolized virus.Created:
