North American Jumping Mice (Genus Zapus)Krutzsch, Philip H. (Philip Henry)
Science
North American Jumping Mice (Genus Zapus)
Krutzsch, Philip H. (Philip Henry)
Zapus
Individuals from the southernmost geographic races (_Z. h. americanus_
and _Z. h. pallidus_) are the smallest for the species and those from
the northernmost subspecies (_Z. h. alascensis_) are the largest. One
subspecies, _Z. h. campestris_, from the central part of the range of
the species, however, seems to be out of the cline. This form inhabits
the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains and is a robust animal
approaching _Z. princeps_ in size.
Seemingly there is no clinal variation in the several qualitative
features of the cranium, for instance in the shape of the auditory
bullae, shape of the incisive foramina, and shape of the postpalatal
notch. On the other hand, the dimensions of the entire skull show that
the larger crania are of the northernmost subspecies and the smaller of
the southernmost subspecies.
NATURAL HISTORY
_Habitat._--_Zapus hudsonius_ occurs in low undergrowth usually of
grasses or forbs or both, in open coniferous forests, deciduous hardwood
groves, or in stands of tall shrubs and low trees, but most frequently
in open, moist areas.
Quimby (1951:75) notes that jumping mice were more common in the moist
lowlands than in the drier uplands. More were in the open type lowlands
than in the forested type, and these mice favored habitats normally
bordered by small streams affording moist to semi-aquatic living
conditions. The reports of Goodwin (1924:255), Christian (1936:416), G.
S. Miller (1899:329), Cory (1912:249), Lyon (1936:277), Stoner
(1918:123), and others, although concerning widely different parts of
North America, indicate that _Z. hudsonius_ selects habitats in
vegetation of like form, even though different assemblages of plant
species may be involved.
An average of 11.91 mice per acre was recorded by Quimby (1951:91) from
a study plot at Itasca Park, Clearwater County, Minnesota. He gives the
monthly population densities per acre for _Z. hudsonius_ at Centerville,
Anoka County, Minnesota, as follows: June 2.78, July 3.57, August 3.10,
and September 1.81. Blair's (1940:248) data on bi-monthly population
density per acre for _Z. hudsonius_ on the Edwin S. George Reserve,
Livingston County, Michigan, are remarkably similar, when adjusted on a
monthly basis, to those obtained by Quimby (_loc. cit._). Blair's (_loc.
cit._) monthly population densities per acre are as follows: June 3.90,
July 3.85, August 3.10, and September 2.00. Townsend (1935:90) estimated
population densities per acre for _Z. hudsonius_ in central New York
state, at 11 to 72 individuals. As Quimby (1951:92) points out,
Townsend's figures are probably too high, as commonly is the case when
the moving quadrat technique is used because animals from neighboring
areas enter the trapped area to take over the niches made available by
their predecessors' removal.
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