North American Jumping Mice (Genus Zapus)Krutzsch, Philip H. (Philip Henry)
Science
North American Jumping Mice (Genus Zapus)
Krutzsch, Philip H. (Philip Henry)
Zapus
In order to be more nearly certain that specimens used in making racial
comparisons were comparable as to age, six age-groups were established,
from youngest to oldest. These groups were based on the degree of wear
on the occlusal surface of the upper cheek-teeth, and are as follows:
group 1, in which M1 and M2 have not reached full and equal height and
show no occlusal wear, and M3 has not erupted or is just breaking
through the alveolus; group 2, in which M1 and M2 have reached full and
equal height and show slight wear, and M3 may be almost or quite equal
in height to M1 and M2 and, when equal, sometimes shows slight wear;
group 3, in which M1 and M2 show wear on all cusps but cusps are
visible, and M3 shows slight wear; group 4, in which P4 shows slight
wear, M1 has cusps and re-entrant folds between cusps mostly gone, M2
shows considerable wear but re-entrant folds are visible, and M3 has
most re-entrant folds and cusps gone; group 5, in which P4 shows
considerable wear, M1 has cusps completely worn away, M2 has re-entrant
folds and cusps worn away, and M3 lacks occlusal pattern except for one
or two lakes; group 6, in which all upper cheek-teeth are without
occlusal pattern.
These groupings are based on continuously variable features, and,
therefore, when the teeth are at certain stages of wear a specimen is
difficult to place in one of two groups.
Age group 1 and 2 include juvenal and subadult animals. Animals of age
groups 3 through 6 are considered adult. Individuals of age groups 3
through 5, including as they do the great majority of the adult
population, were the only age classes used in measuring geographic
variation.
Quimby's (1951:69) data indicate that some mice produce litters at the
age of approximately 2 months, when four-fifths grown. Therefore, sexual
maturity is not always synonymous with morphological maturity.
MEASUREMENTS OF EXTERNAL PARTS.--Data presented here on _Z. hudsonius_
are those recorded by Quimby (1951) on specimens from Anoka County,
Minnesota, and those obtained by me from museum specimens from Menominee
and Keweenaw counties, Michigan.
According to Quimby (1951:65-66) the mean length [= body length] for
three newly born _Z. hudsonius_ is 24.8 mm (24.0-25.5); at the end of
the fourth week of growth the mean length averaged 64.4 mm and at the
13th week 77.6 mm. Rapid growth occurs during the first four weeks, with
the mean length increasing approximately 2.6 times the size at birth.
After the fourth week of development, growth proceeds at a slower rate;
the mean length at 13 weeks is only 3.1 times greater than the mean
length at birth.
In specimens assigned to age groups 1 and 2 the length of the body
averaged 70 and 74.8 mm, respectively. The individuals of both groups
are less than 13 weeks old if we assume that growth proceeds at the same
rate in Michigan as it does in Minnesota.
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