Chaetodipus arenarius
Creators: name: Álvarez-Castañeda, Sergio Ticul
name: Rios, Evelyn
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2010
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Rodentia
Heteromyidae
Chaetodipus
Chaetodipus arenarius

description: CHAETODIPUS ARENARIUS    
 Distribution: The range of C. arenarius includes all of the State of Baja California (northern half of the peninsula) and the northern 80% of the State of Baja California Sur (from La Paz northward, including the driest areas) and Magdalena Island (geographical group 25). It does not include the coastal areas as previously considered by Hall (1981) and Patton & Álvarez-Castañeda (1999). Chaetodipus arenarius is not found in any localities with foggy desert scrubland.   
 Diagnosis: This is a moderately small species within the genus, with tail longer than the head and body, small ears, and the pelage relatively soft and usually lacking stiff bristles or spines; the lateral stripe is not clearly developed. The skull is short and broad, with somewhat vaulted braincase, slender and parallel zygomatic arches, the interparietal is more than twice as broad as it is long and is strap shaped to slightly pentagonal with slender nasals (Lackey, 1991).   
 In the field, the differences between C. arenarius and C. dalquesti were noted by simple comparisons. Chaetodipus arenarius is smaller, with a smaller, crested tail and is more light coloured dorsally. Rump spines are mainly absent in C. arenarius and present in C. dalquesti, but not as strongly developed as in C. spinatus. The fur is softer in C. arenarius than in C. dalquesti.   
 Subspecific taxonomy: Some of the subspecies previously considered as C. arenarius show genetic characteristics that are assigned to C. dalquesti. The only previous subspecies from the Cape Region that is still considered C. arenarius is Chaetodipus arenarius ramirezpulidoi (Álvarez-Castañeda & Cortés-Calva, 2004), which is restricted to El Mogote sand bar at the south-western end of Bahía de La Paz (geographical group 28). The population is surrounded by populations of C. dalquesti. Genetic analyses indicate that the population in the Loreto area (geographical group 17) is genetically different from all other specimens of C. arenarius.   
 Comments: Phylogenetic analyses show that the range of C. arenarius is separated into three geographical areas that could be related to discontinuous habitat characteristics: northern populations (Fig. 1, solid circles; Fig. 2D, subclade Ia); southern populations, including specimens from El Mogote (Fig. 1, open circles; Fig. 2D, subclade Ib); and Loreto (Fig. 1, grey circles; Fig. 2D, subclade Ic). The ranges of the subspecies follow Patton & Álvarez-Castañeda (1999).   
 The Loreto group (geographical group 17) is geographically isolated from other populations of C. arenarius and has a 3.6% genetic distance from specimens from the southern part of the peninsula; therefore, this group should be considered a different subspecies. However, because only a few specimens have been examined, there are no clear morphological characteristics to distinguish the Loreto population from other populations of C. arenarius.   
 The current subspecies included under C. arenarius are: C. a. arenarius (Merriam, 1894), which occurs in the inland areas of Baja California Sur from San Ignacio Lagoon (geographical group 12) southward to the north of the Isthmus of La Paz (geographical group 30). Chaetodipus a. albescens (Huey, 1926) is found on sandy eastern lowlands of the San Pedro Mártir Range in the vicinity of San Felipe (geographical group 1) in the State of Baja California. Chaetodipus a. ambiguus (Nelson & Goldman, 1929) is found in the south-central part of Baja California and northwestern part of the Vizcaino Desert in Baja California Sur. Chaetodipus a. mexicalis (Huey, 1939) occurs on sandy eastern lowlands of the Sierra de Juárez, including the area of Laguna Salada and the northeastern coast of Baja California. Chaetodipus a. paralios (Huey, 1964) is found in the eastern lowlands of the Sierra de La Giganta from Bahía de los Ángeles (geographical group 5) to El Barril (geographical group 7) in Baja California. Chaetodipus a. albulus (Nelson & Goldman, 1923) is restricted to Magdalena Island (geographical group 25). Chaetodipus a. helleri (Elliot, 1903) is found from the San Quintín Plains (geographical group 2) to the coastal area southward from El Rosario (geographical group 3) and C. a. ramirezpulidoi (Álvarez-Castañeda & Cortés-Calva, 2004) is restricted to the El Mogote (geographical group 28) sand spit in the south-western end of Bahía de La Paz.
description: Published as part of Álvarez-Castañeda, Sergio Ticul & Rios, Evelyn, 2011, Revision of Chaetodipus arenarius (Rodentia: Heteromyidae), pp. 213-228 in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 161 (1) on page 225, DOI: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00630.x, http://zenodo.org/record/10114730