White-footed Deermouse
Peromyscus leucopus (Rafinesque, 1818)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) is a rodent native to North America from southern Canada to the Southwestern United States and Mexico. It is a species of the genus Peromyscus, a closely related group of New World mice often called "deermice". In the Maritimes, its only location is a disjunct population in southern Nova Scotia. It is also erroneously known as the woodmouse, a name which instead describes the unrelated Apodemus sylvaticus, particularly in Texas.
Wikipedia contributors, White-footed mouse; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:52:53.574861+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Peromyscus leucopus (Rafinesque, 1818)
- Name authority
- (Rafinesque, 1818)
- Common name
- White-footed 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderRodentia Bowdich, 1821
- suborderMyomorpha Brandt, 1855
- superfamilyMuroidea Illiger, 1811
- familyCricetidae Fischer, 1817
- subfamilyNeotominae Merriam, 1894
- genusPeromyscus Gloger, 1841
- speciesPeromyscus leucopus (Rafinesque, 1818)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Peromyscus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Orizaba DeermousePeromyscus beatae Thomas, 1903 | CricetidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Perote DeermousePeromyscus bullatus Osgood, 1904 | CricetidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Burt's Deer MousePeromyscus caniceps Burt, 1932 | CricetidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Peromyscus carletoni Bradley et al., 2014 | CricetidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Cactus DeermousePeromyscus eremicus (Baird, 1857) | CricetidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Eva's Desert MousePeromyscus eva Thomas, 1898 | CricetidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Northern Baja DeermousePeromyscus fraterculus (Miller, 1892) | CricetidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Blackish Deer MousePeromyscus furvus J. A. Allen & Chapman, 1897 | CricetidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Cotton DeermousePeromyscus gossypinus (Le Conte, 1853) | CricetidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Naked-eared Deer MousePeromyscus gymnotis Thomas, 1894 | CricetidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Southern Wood MousePeromyscus hylocetes Merriam, 1898 | CricetidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| San Lorenzo DeermousePeromyscus interparietalis Burt, 1932 | CricetidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
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.
North America
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.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=180278 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:4F7KK. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.