The Heteromys anomalus or Trinidad spiny pocket mouse is a very interesting rodent, but little is known about it. Its size is ranged from 3-12 inches. The color of the spiny pocket mouse can be either tan, dark or light brown or light gray. You can usually identify the mouse by its spiny tail and fur. So you can see spiny pocket mouse isn’t just a clever name.

The spiny pocket mouse’s niche (which means the status of an organism in its environment) is spreading the seeds it eats in its home environment. The pocket mouse ranges in the Caribbean, Trinidad, and Tobago. Spiny pocket mice have the ability to take water out of the seeds it eats. It can only survive in its environment with the help of these abilities and its elongated legs which it can jump away from predators.

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No one knows how many there are. No one knows if they’re growing or shrinking. No one knows what contributes to the population. But they are on least concern of extinction.

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The pocket mouse is nocturnal and eats mostly seeds. It gets the food from semi-deserts.  Their role in the food web is to spread the seeds that they eat. They compete with other seed-eating rodents in their habitat.

The spiny pocket mouse is hunted by the snakes of its homeland of Trinidad and Tobago. The pocket mouse can use their elongated leg s and bristled tails jump away or smack their attacker. Without these adaptations, the Trinidad spiny pocket mouse would be wiped out before they were discovered. 

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One  interesting fact about my mouse is that no one know a lot about it. No one knows how many there are. And a new one gets discovered every once and a while. There are only a couple known types in the world.

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Author: Kaden C
Published: 10/2012

 

Sources
http://trinbagobiodiversity.gov.tt/mammals/index.htm#Heteromyidae
http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/10004/0
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinidad_Spiny_Pocket_Mouse
http://enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?allSpecies=y&searchText=spiny%20pocket%20mouse&curGroupID=5&lgfromWhere=&curPageNum=1
http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Spiny+Pocket+Mouse