Merriam's Pocket Mouse

Open encyclopedia reference

Merriam's pocket mouse (Perognathus merriami) is a species of rodent in the family Heteromyidae. It is found in northeast Mexico and New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas in the United States. Its habitat is shortgrass prairie, desert areas with scrub and arid shrubland. The species is named to honor Clinton Hart Merriam, a biologist who first described several other members of the genus Perognathus, and first elucidated the principle of a "life zone" as a means of characterizing ecological areas with similar plant and animal communities.

Wikipedia contributors, Merriam's pocket mouse; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T09:45:24.328925+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Perognathus merriami J. A. Allen, 1892

Name authority

J. A. Allen, 1892

Common name

Merriam's Pocket Mouse

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Rodentia

Family

Heteromyidae

Genus

Perognathus

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
10. infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
11. orderRodentia Bowdich, 1821
12. suborderCastorimorpha A. E. Wood, 1955
13. familyHeteromyidae Gray, 1868
14. subfamilyPerognathinae Coues, 1875
15. genusPerognathus Wied-Neuwied, 1839
16. speciesPerognathus merriami J. A. Allen, 1892

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Perognathus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 52 records assigned to Heteromyidae.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=552488 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:4F79B. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.