North American Jumping Mice (Genus Zapus) — John Shaqi
North American Jumping Mice (Genus Zapus)Krutzsch, Philip H. (Philip Henry)
Science
North American Jumping Mice (Genus Zapus)
Krutzsch, Philip H. (Philip Henry)
Zapus
Variations from the normal color of the pelage are rare. Among more than
3,000 specimens of _Zapus_ examined there were only 12 individuals (five
_Z. princeps_, 6 _Z. hudsonius_, and 1 _Z. trinotatus_) that were
abnormally colored. A single white spot was noted on each of 10 (5 _Z.
princeps_, 4 _Z. hudsonius_, and 1 _Z. trinotatus_) of these
individuals; the spots were on the dorsal, anterior half of the body.
The skin beneath the patch of white hair was in each animal like that
beneath the neighboring normally-pigmented hair. One specimen of _Z.
hudsonius_ (NMC No. 6669) is everywhere black, excepting the dorsal
surface of the toes of the forefeet. Most of the individual hairs from
various areas of the body are black for their entire length; some,
however, have non-pigmented silvery tips. One specimen of _Z. hudsonius_
(KU No. 645) lacks any black; dorsally the pelage is nearest to
Ochraceous-Buff and it is white on the venter. Individual hairs of the
dorsal area are white for the basal two-thirds of their length (as
compared to gray and brown in the animals with normal pigmentation) and
near Ochraceous-Buff on the distal third (as compared to hairs which are
dark brown tipped with Ochraceous-Buff). The feet and tail are white.
MOLT.--The sequence of molt for _Zapus_ has been ascertained from
examination of the study skins. In all species of this genus there seems
to be only one annual molt in adults. In the young of the year this molt
occurs after August first and before hibernation. All individuals of a
single population do not molt at any one time; females continue to molt
later in the autumn than do the males; some individuals begin the molt
as early as mid-June and others show molt as late as the end of October;
approximately three weeks are required for an individual to complete its
molt (Quimby, 1951:74); readiness for molt and early stages in molt can
be detected (in museum specimens) by the greater thickness of the skin.
Hairs lost accidentally are quickly replaced, regardless of the
condition of the molt.
In _Zapus hudsonius_, new hair appears simultaneously on the anterior
dorsal surface of the nose and on the mid-dorsal surface between the
scapulae. The molt proceeds anteriorly from the shoulders and
posteriorly from the nose. At the same time that the head is covered,
new hair appears on the sides of the body from the forelegs to the
cheeks. New pelage then appears posteriorly, and molt continues as a
wave from these points over the sides and back with the rump receiving
new hair last (see figs. 42 and 43).
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