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White-footed Deermouse

Peromyscus leucopus (Rafinesque, 1818)

Source-backed taxonomic record

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.

  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 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.

SpeciesClassificationSource status
Orizaba DeermousePeromyscus beatae Thomas, 1903CricetidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Perote DeermousePeromyscus bullatus Osgood, 1904CricetidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Burt's Deer MousePeromyscus caniceps Burt, 1932CricetidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Peromyscus carletoni Bradley et al., 2014CricetidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Cactus DeermousePeromyscus eremicus (Baird, 1857)CricetidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Eva's Desert MousePeromyscus eva Thomas, 1898CricetidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Northern Baja DeermousePeromyscus fraterculus (Miller, 1892)CricetidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Blackish Deer MousePeromyscus furvus J. A. Allen & Chapman, 1897CricetidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Cotton DeermousePeromyscus gossypinus (Le Conte, 1853)CricetidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Naked-eared Deer MousePeromyscus gymnotis Thomas, 1894CricetidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Southern Wood MousePeromyscus hylocetes Merriam, 1898CricetidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
San Lorenzo DeermousePeromyscus interparietalis Burt, 1932CricetidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant

Browse 593 records assigned to Cricetidae.

Names & synonyms

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

Recorded nameSource status
Hesperomys affinis J. A. Allen, 1891 J. A. Allen, 1891synonym
Hesperomys campestris Le Conte, 1853 Le Conte, 1853synonym
Peromyscus canus Mearns, 1896 Mearns, 1896synonym
Peromyscus musculoides Merriam, 1898 Merriam, 1898synonym
Peromyscus tornillo Mearns, 1896 Mearns, 1896synonym
Mus sylvaticus noveboracensis Fischer, 1829 Fischer, 1829synonym
Peromyscus texanus flaccidus J. A. Allen, 1903 J. A. Allen, 1903synonym
Peromyscus cozulmelae Merriam, 1901 Merriam, 1901synonym
Vesperimus mearnsii J. A. Allen, 1891 J. A. Allen, 1891synonym
Peromyscus leucopus aridulus Osgood, 1909 Osgood, 1909synonym
Peromyscus leucopus lachiguiriensis Goodwin, 1956 Goodwin, 1956synonym
Peromyscus leucopus fusus Bangs, 1905 Bangs, 1905synonym
Peromyscus leucopus fuscus Bangs, 1905 Bangs, 1905synonym
Peromyscus leucopus incensus Goldman, 1942 Goldman, 1942synonym
Peromyscus leucopus ammodytes Bangs, 1905 Bangs, 1905synonym
Hesperomys texana Woodhouse, 1853 Woodhouse, 1853synonym
Mus michiganensis Audubon & Bachman, 1842 Audubon & Bachman, 1842synonym
Peromyscus arboreus Gloger, 1841 Gloger, 1841synonym
Peromyscus texanus castaneus Osgood, 1904 Osgood, 1904synonym
Peromyscus texanus mesomelas Osgood, 1904 Osgood, 1904synonym
Sitomys leucopus arizonae J. A. Allen, 1894 J. A. Allen, 1894synonym
Cricetus myoides Gapper, 1830 Gapper, 1830synonym
Peromyscus leucopus easti Paradiso, 1960 Paradiso, 1960synonym
Peromyscus leucopus brevicaudus Davis, 1939 Davis, 1939synonym
Peromyscus leucopus minnesotae Mearns, 1901 Mearns, 1901synonym
Peromyscus leucopus caudatus A. Smith, 1939 A. Smith, 1939synonym
Peromyscus leucopus ochraceus Osgood, 1909 Osgood, 1909synonym
Arvicola emmonsi DeKay, 1840 DeKay, 1840synonym

Documented distribution

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

Middle America

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.

  1. 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.