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Kangaroo Rat

 
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Kangaroo rats, genus Dipodomys, are small rodent
Rodent

Rodentia is an Order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing Incisors#The_Rodent_incisor in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....
s native to North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
. The name derives from their bipedal form: they hop like tiny kangaroo
Kangaroo

A kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae . In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the Red Kangaroo, the Antilopine Kangaroo, and the Eastern Grey Kangaroo and Western Grey Kangaroo of the Macropus genus....
s.

species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
 are recognized. Their size varies from 10 to 20 cm, with a tail of equal or slightly greater length; weight can be anywhere between 35 and 180 grams. The most distinctive feature of the kangaroo rats is their very long hind legs.

Like the jerboa
Jerboa

The jerboa forms the bulk of the membership of the family Dipodidae. Jerboas are small jumping desert rodents found throughout Asia and northern Africa that resemble mouse with long tufted tails and very long hind legs....
s of Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
n and Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
n deserts and the hopping mice of outback Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
, kangaroo rats have highly developed hind legs , live in deep burrows that shelter them from the worst of the desert heat, and do not lose water unless forced into a diet lacking in hydrocarbon
Hydrocarbon

In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. With relation to chemical terminology, aromatic hydrocarbons or arenes, alkanes, alkenes and alkyne-based compounds composed entirely of carbon or hydrogen are referred to as "pure" hydrocarbons, whereas other hydrocarbons with bonded com...
s.






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Kangaroo rats, genus Dipodomys, are small rodent
Rodent

Rodentia is an Order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing Incisors#The_Rodent_incisor in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....
s native to North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
. The name derives from their bipedal form: they hop like tiny kangaroo
Kangaroo

A kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae . In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the Red Kangaroo, the Antilopine Kangaroo, and the Eastern Grey Kangaroo and Western Grey Kangaroo of the Macropus genus....
s.

Speciation

412 species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
 are recognized. Their size varies from 10 to 20 cm, with a tail of equal or slightly greater length; weight can be anywhere between 35 and 180 grams. The most distinctive feature of the kangaroo rats is their very long hind legs.

Like the jerboa
Jerboa

The jerboa forms the bulk of the membership of the family Dipodidae. Jerboas are small jumping desert rodents found throughout Asia and northern Africa that resemble mouse with long tufted tails and very long hind legs....
s of Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
n and Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
n deserts and the hopping mice of outback Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
, kangaroo rats have highly developed hind legs , live in deep burrows that shelter them from the worst of the desert heat, and do not lose water unless forced into a diet lacking in hydrocarbon
Hydrocarbon

In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. With relation to chemical terminology, aromatic hydrocarbons or arenes, alkanes, alkenes and alkyne-based compounds composed entirely of carbon or hydrogen are referred to as "pure" hydrocarbons, whereas other hydrocarbons with bonded com...
s. Instead, they have a highly water-efficient metabolism (their kidney
Kidney

The kidneys are Organ that have numerous biological roles. Their primary role is to maintain the homeostasis balance of bodily fluids by filtering and secreting Metabolomics#Metabolitess and minerals from the blood and excreting them, along with water , as urine....
s are at least four times more efficient at retaining water and excreting salt than those of humans) and manufacture water through a metabolic process called oxidative phosphorylation
Oxidative phosphorylation

Oxidative phosphorylation is a metabolic pathway that uses energy released by the redox of nutrients to produce adenosine triphosphate . Although the many forms of life on earth use a range of different nutrients, almost all carry out oxidative phosphorylation to produce ATP, the molecule that supplies energy to metabolism....
. These adaptations have prepared them to live in arid conditions. Despite sharing so many characteristics with jerboas and hopping mice, the three groups are not closely related to one another: the similarities are the result of convergent evolution
Convergent evolution

Convergent evolution describes the acquisition of the same biological trait in unrelated lineages.The wing is a classic example of convergent evolution in action....
.

Location and habitat

Kangaroo rats are found in arid and semi-arid areas of Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
, the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 and Mexico
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
 that retain some grass or other vegetation and thus fall under category xerocole
Xerocole

Xerocole are animals adapted to live in a desert.Under the scorching rays of sun, the arid and baked sands of deserts may appear to be devoid of animal life....
. Their diet includes seeds, leaves, stems, buds, some fruit, and insects. Most kangaroo rat species use their burrows and buried caches nearby to store food against the possibility of bad seasons. The Banner-tailed Kangaroo Rat
Banner-tailed Kangaroo Rat

The Banner-tailed Kangaroo Rat is a species of rodent in the Heteromyidae family.They are found in Mexico and the United States....
 has been recorded making burrows with several storage chambers up to 25 cm in diameter each, and containing almost six kilograms of stored food.

Anatomy

Unlike the jerboas and hopping mice, but like their close relatives the pocket mice, kangaroo rats have large cheek pouches that open on either side of the mouth and extend back to the shoulders. They fill the pouches with food or nesting material ready for transport back to the burrow, then empty them by turning them inside out, like pockets, with their forepaws. There is a special muscle that, once the pouch is empty and clean, pulls it back in again.

The overall color of the kangaroo rats can be anywhere between pale, sandy yellow, and dark brown, with a white underside and often with white banding across the thighs. Tails tend to be dark with white sides and a tuft of longer hairs. Facial markings vary from one species to another, but all have an oil gland between the shoulders.

A feature of the kangaroo rat is the animal's efficient kidney
Kidney

The kidneys are Organ that have numerous biological roles. Their primary role is to maintain the homeostasis balance of bodily fluids by filtering and secreting Metabolomics#Metabolitess and minerals from the blood and excreting them, along with water , as urine....
s. The kangaroo rat has a longer loop of Henle
Loop of Henle

In the kidney, the loop of Henle is the portion of the nephron that leads from the proximal convoluted tubule to the distal convoluted tubule. The loop has a Hairpin turn in the renal medulla....
 in the nephrons which permit a greater magnitude of countercurrent multiplication and thus a larger medullary vertical osmotic gradient. As a result, these rodents can produce urine
Urine

Urine is a liquid waste product of the body secreted by the kidneys by a process of filtration from blood called urination and excreted through the urethra....
 that is concentrated up to an osmolarity of almost 6,000 mosm/liter, which is five times more concentrated than maximally concentrated human urine at 1,200 mosm/liter. Because of this tremendous concentration ability, kangaroo rats never have to drink; the H2O produced metabolically within their cells during oxidation of foodstuff (food plus O2 yields CO2 + H2O + energy) is sufficient for their body. Also, kangaroo rats cannot lose water by perspiring, because they have no sweat glands. Kangaroo rats lose so little water that they can recover 90% of the loss by using metabolic water gaining the remaining 10% from the small amount of water in their diet. Kangaroo rats lose water mainly by evaporation during gas exchange and gain water mainly from cellular metabolism.

Taxonomy

  • Family Heteromydae
    • Subfamily Dipodomyinae
      • Dipodomys agilis (Agile kangaroo rat)
      • Dipodomys californicus (California kangaroo rat)
      • Dipodomys compactus (Gulf Coast kangaroo rat)
      • Dipodomys deserti (Desert kangaroo rat)
      • Dipodomys elator (Texas kangaroo rat)
      • Dipodomys gravipes (San Quintin kangaroo rat)
      • Dipodomys heermanni (Heerman's kangaroo rat)
      • Dipodomys ingens (Giant kangaroo rat)
      • Dipodomys merriami (Merriam's kangaroo rat)
      • Dipodomys microps (Chisel-toothed kangaroo rat)
      • Dipodomys nelsoni (Nelson's kangaroo rat)
      • Dipodomys nitratoides (Fresno kangaroo rat)
      • Dipodomys ordii (Ord's kangaroo rat)
      • Dipodomys panamintinus (Panamint kangaroo rat)
      • Dipodomys phillipsii (Phillip's kangaroo rat)
      • Dipodomys simulans (Dulzura Kangaroo Rat)
      • Dipodomys spectabilis (Banner-tailed kangaroo rat
        Banner-tailed Kangaroo Rat

        The Banner-tailed Kangaroo Rat is a species of rodent in the Heteromyidae family.They are found in Mexico and the United States....
        )
      • Dipodomys stephensi (Stephen's kangaroo rat)
      • Dipodomys venustus (Narrow-faced kangaroo rat)


External links