The predators of Z. trinotatus include owls and cats.
Perception Channels: tactile ; chemical
The IUCN catagorizes the status of Z. trinotatus as indeterminate. Its habitat is decreasing because of grazing by livestock and introduced deer. (Wilson and Reeder 1993, Nowak 1991)
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
If numerous enough, Z. trinotatus can cause damage to meadows, though this is rare. (Ganon 1988)
Zapus trinotatus eats mainly seeds, but also fruit, berries, insects, fungi, mollusks, and fish. To get at the seeds it cuts plant stems and grass, and it leaves the remains in a neat pile. The Pacific jumping mouse forages at ground level, and it does not store food. (Gannon 1988, Niethammer 1990)
Zapus trinotatus lives in Canada and the USA. The range of Z. trinotatus is bordered from southwestern British Columbia to western Washington and Oregon to the Cascade-Sierra Nevada mountain chain through California to Marin County, California on the northern San Francisco Bay. (Gannon 1988, Wilson and Reeder 1993)
Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native )
Zapus trinotatus inhabits alder salmonberry, riparian alder, and skunk cabbage marsh ecosystems found among coastal redwood forests. In the northern part of its range, Z. trinotatus lives in dense forests, alpine meadows, and wet-grassy areas of the Olympic Peninsula and Cascade Mountains of Washington; and in moist meadows, marshy thickets, and woodland edges with ferns and a weedy understory. In the central part of its range (Oregon), Z. trinotatus lives in riparian-deciduous woodlands, wet meadows where the ground is peaty, and brushy redwood, Douglas fir, and mixed evergreen forests. In the south it occurs in the humus-filled dark soils of the Pacific coast in redwood forests with rushes, sedges, bracken fern, swordfern, Johnsongrass, poison hemlock, and monkey flower. Zapus trinotatus populations become more dense with increasing rain.
(Ganon 1988)
Terrestrial Biomes: forest
The length of the tail is 112-155mm, the hind foot is 30-36mm, the ear is 14-16mm, and the total length is 221-242mm. The pacific jumping mouse is larger than other members of the genus. The coarse pelage is strongly tricolored. It has a distinct separation of dorsal and ventral colors. The dorsum is dark brown, the sides are dark orange-brown and occasionally flecked with black, the ventrum is mostly white or diffused with dusky brown, and the chest often has a patch of buff that extends to the venter. Its tail is sparsely haired, has guard hairs, and is dark brown above and white below. The ears are fringed with the same color as the dorsum or light brown, and the tip of the ear is spade-shaped. The color of the pelage becomes paler in autumn.
The skull is broad and deep in proportion to length, the pterygoid fossa wide, the zygomatic arch widely bowed, and the mesopterygoid fossae narrow. The mandible has a wide and inflected angle, and the coronoid process is long, slender, and divergent from the condyloid process. The upper incisor is narrow and grooved in front. M1 and M2 have an isolated (free) paracone, and the first primary fold divides the occlusal pattern of M1. The lower M1 lacks an anteromedian fold in the anteroconid.
The dental formula is 1/1 0/0 1/0 3/3.
The posterior of the Pacific jumping mouse's body is heavier than the fore part. Zapus trinotatus is pentadactyl, and the soles of its feet are naked. Its hind legs are much longer than its forelegs. It has a small head which is slightly elongated, and its eyes are small and are located midway between its nose and its ears. The ears are short, but longer than the surrounding fur. There are four pairs of mammae on Z. trinotatus: one inguinal, one abdominal, and two pectoral mammae pairs. There are no cheekpouches.
The pacific jumping mouse has specializations for locomotion. It has well-developed hind legs, lengthened distal elements of hind limbs and digits, a shortened body, a lenthened tail, a shortened neck with increased cervical flexure, posterior shift of its center of gravity, a modified vertebral column to 39 vertebra, a and lengthened pseudosacrum. These traits help Z. trinotatus jump.
(Nowak 1991, Gannon 1988)
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Males become sexually active in May or June, and stay that way until September. Females are receptive in May and June. They give birth in July or August, with a gestation period of 18-23 days. There is one annual litter of 4-8 young. The altricial newborn is pink and hairless; its eyes are shut, its ears is folded, its head is short and stubby, and its facial vibrissae are not yet visable. This tiny newborn weighs .7-.9 grams. It is weaned after four weeks. It will become independent at around one month, and sexually mature the next year. The Pacific jumping mouse can reach a maximum age of at least four years in the wild. (Gannon 1988, Niethammer 1990)
Key Reproductive Features: gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual
The Pacific jumping mouse (Zapus trinotatus) is a species of rodent in the family Zapodidae.[2] Found in Canada and the United States, its natural habitats are temperate grassland and swamps.
Pacific jumping mice can be distinguished from other rodents that belong to the same genus by their larger size. They have a distinct color separation between the back and underside. Other distinctive features of the Pacific jumping mouse, especially in contrast to the Western jumping mouse, include ears fringed with light brown fur or with fur that matches the back.[3]
These rodents prefer to live in moist habitats and are frequently found in riparian or meadow areas near rivulets. They rely on grass seeds as their main diet, and thus they prefer inhabiting areas with thick vegetation, which provide refuge from predators as well as food resources. Besides eating grass, they feed also on fungi and insects. They spend most of the autumn season fattening up in preparation for winter hibernation, which is spent in small burrows in the ground. When their hibernation period of up to 8 months is over, they mate and produce a litter of 4 or more young. Pacific jumping mice have many predators, including snakes, coyotes, owls, and foxes.[4]
Pacific jumping mice prefer living in moist regions, such as marshes with alder, salmonberry, skunk-cabbage, and riparian alder ecosystems commonly found in coastal redwood woodlands.[4] In northern regions they dwell in dense woodlands, wet grassy regions, and alpine meadows of the Cascade Mountains in Washington and the Olympic Peninsula. These mice can be found in marshy thickets, woodlands edges that contain both weedy understory and ferns, and in meadows.[5]
The habitat of Pacific jumping mice includes streams, brushlands, lakes, woodlands, forests, fields, swamps, meadows, shrubs, bogs, marshes, and the banks of rivers and ponds. Their range covers the entire Pacific Northwest, California, and western Canada.[5]
The diet of Pacific jumping mice include fungi, fish, insects, mollusks, wild fruits, seeds, and wild berries. They forage for food material at ground level and will cut down tall plants to reach seeds. Other behaviors include cutting grass and leaving it in an orderly pile, but hey do not store food.[5] The dental formula of Zapus trinotatus is 1.0.1.31.0.0.3 = 18.
Infant Pacific jumping mice vocalize in sharp squeals. Mature mice evade predators by leaping distances of over 150 cm; they leap with their head turned downwards, arching their back and diving on the ground while at the same time preparing to make another leap. They may also evade predation by remaining motionless and depending on the camouflage effect of their fur. They are most active from dusk until dawn. They feed by seizing food with their forepaws.[5] Their behavior is typically nervous and high-strung, and they can be aggressive when trapped. However, despite showing some signs of aggressiveness, the Pacific jumping mouse is naturally gentle. When engaged in fighting, they produce a characteristic squeaking noise and at the same time pulsate their tails against the substrate, thus producing a drumming noise. When this rodent is agitated, it jumps and moves madly from one place to another. Pacific jumping mice prepare for summer by constructing a fragile domed-shaped nest with a single entrance, usually placed on the ground.
Pacific jumping mouse sexually mature the year after they are born. Males become sexually active in May or June, which is when females are also fertile. Their gestation period lasts about 18–23 days and give birth in July or August. Each litter consist of about 4-8 young, which are weaned after 4 weeks. The Pacific jumping mouse are born pink and hairless, and weigh around 0.7–0.9 grams at birth. They are also born with their eyes shut and depend on their mother to survive the first few weeks. They become independent after about a month.[6]
The genetic makeup of a given population of Pacific jumping mice depends on their mating system, characteristics of the species, demography, and dispersal. However the following three components seem to be important to the genetic health of the Pacific jumping mouse.[7] The first component is behavioral instigation of dispersal. The second component is the significance of species dispersal as an initiator of migrating patterns that also include mating selections. The third component is the impact of dispersion on gender-specific models of species relatedness, and thus, on allelic allotment within the population.
"E-Fauna BC: Electronic Atlas of the Wildlife of British Columbia". BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer. Department of Geography, UBC. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link). The Pacific jumping mouse (Zapus trinotatus) is a species of rodent in the family Zapodidae. Found in Canada and the United States, its natural habitats are temperate grassland and swamps.
