NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Deer Mouse
Peromyscus maniculatus (Wagner, 1845)
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.
Not all visitors that come into the Visitor Center are human. This deer mouse made its way into a recycling bin and was then released outside. Earlier this season, a garter snake explored the inside of the Visitor Center. Photo -- Intern Dawn Marsh
Seney Natural History Association · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 320 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The eastern deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) is a rodent native to eastern North America. It is a species of the genus Peromyscus, a closely related group of New World mice often called "deermice". When formerly grouped with the western deermouse (P. sonoriensis), it was once referred to as the North American deermouse, a species that is no longer recognized. It is fairly widespread across most of North America east of the Mississippi River, with the major exception being the lowland Southeastern United States.
Like certain other Peromyscus species, it can be a vector and carrier of emerging infectious diseases such as hantaviruses and Lyme disease.
It is closely related to Peromyscus leucopus, the white-footed mouse.
Wikipedia contributors, Eastern deer mouse; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T01:49:42.457978+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Peromyscus maniculatus (Wagner, 1845)
- Name authority
- (Wagner, 1845)
- Common name
- Deer Mouse
- 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 maniculatus (Wagner, 1845)
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=180276 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:4F7KP. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.