Canyon Deermouse

Open encyclopedia reference

The canyon mouse (Peromyscus crinitus) is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is a species of the genus Peromyscus, a closely related group of New World mice often called "deermice". It is a gray-brown mouse-like rodent found in much of the western United States and northern Mexico. Its preferred habitat is arid, rocky desert. Vegetation has little or no effect on the distribution of canyon mice, it is instead associated with rocky substrate than any plant. Canyon mice forage in areas with shrub-like vegetation which can be used for protection against predators. It is the only species in the Peromyscus crinitus species group. Canyon mice eat seeds, green vegetation, and insects. Small animals and insects make up a larger portion of diet when seeds and vegetation are rare. They breed in the spring and summer. Females can produce multiple litters of between two and five young every year. Males do not mate with more than one female, and the homes ranges of females and males overlap. Canyon mice are nocturnal and are active through the year.

Wikipedia contributors, Canyon mouse; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:15:17.059476+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Peromyscus crinitus (Merriam, 1891)

Name authority

(Merriam, 1891)

Common name

Canyon Deermouse

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Rodentia

Family

Cricetidae

Genus

Peromyscus

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. suborderMyomorpha Brandt, 1855
13. superfamilyMuroidea Illiger, 1811
14. familyCricetidae Fischer, 1817
15. subfamilyNeotominae Merriam, 1894
16. genusPeromyscus Gloger, 1841
17. speciesPeromyscus crinitus (Merriam, 1891)

Close classified relatives

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

Browse 593 records assigned to Cricetidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

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=180284 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. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

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:4F7JF. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.