Hours later, Ms Kahraman, who bought the item from an Amazon marketplace seller, found a seventh mouse scurrying around her kitchen, which she also believes came from the package. The 37-year-old then found another three dead rodents, which had burrowed their way into the polystyrene packaging - and scratched the furniture in the process. south west London, when three mice jumped out. Kat Kahraman was opening up her delivery at her home in Pimlico. Rock pocket mouse, profile from the Smithsonian Natural History Museum.Shocked Amazon customer Kat Kahraman found four live mice and three dead ones inside her new flat pack table - and is keeping them as petsĪ shocked Amazon customer found four live mice and three dead ones inside her new flat pack table - and has decided to keep them as pets.Desert Mice Offer New Lessons on Survival of the Fittest, news article from the University of Arizona."Different genes underlie adaptive melanism in different populations of rock pocket mice". "Ecological genetics of adaptive color polymorphism in pocket mice: geographic variation in selected and neutral genes". ^ Hoekstra HE, Drumm KE, Nachman MW (June 2004)."The genetic basis of adaptive melanism in pocket mice". ^ Nachman MW, Hoekstra HE, D'Agostino SL (April 2003).^ "ITIS Standard Report Page: Perognathus intermedius".old-form url Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern Changes in the Mc1r gene sequence are not responsible for the colour difference in the mice sampled from New Mexico, however, leading the researchers to conclude that the almost identical dark coat colours developed multiple times in rock pocket mice, an example of convergent evolution. Thus melanism in rock pocket mice is considered a fabulous example of adaptation by natural selection. Subsequent studies demonstrated that there is strong selective pressure maintaining Mc1r allele and coat colour frequencies across the short geographic distances between the light- and dark-coloured rock islands. In the Pinacate mice, they discovered a perfect association between different versions of the Melanocortin-1 receptor ( Mc41r6) gene and coat colour. In 2003, scientists sampled DNA from both light- and dark-coloured rock pocket mice from areas in Pinacate Peaks, Mexico and New Mexico, USA. However, darker coloured rock pocket mice are found living amid black, basaltic rock formations. Most rock pocket mouse populations have light, tawny fur consistent with the colour of the desert rocks on which they live. Historically, rock pocket mice have been subdivided into as many as ten subspecies (Benson 1933 Dice and Blossom 1937) based on geographical distribution and coat colour. As with most pocket mice, the tail is longer than the body (~10 cm). The breeding season spans a few months, starting in February or March, and the litter size is typically between three and six. It eats mainly plant seeds and makes small burrows in soil close to or under rocks to evade owls, its main predator. Description įound mainly in rocky outcrops in the deserts of the southwestern United States and Mexico, the rock pocket mouse is medium-sized (length ~18 cm, weight ~12–18g) and nocturnal. It is sometimes grouped in the genus Perognathus. The rock pocket mouse ( Chaetodipus intermedius) is one of 19 species of pocket mice in the genus Chaetodipus.
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