Peromyscus Gloger, 1841

Guy G. Musser & Michael D. Carleton, 1993, Order Rodentia - Family Muridae, Mammal Species of the World (2 nd Edition), Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press, pp. 501-755 : 728

Peromyscus Gloger, 1841 . Gemein Hand.-Hilfsbuch. Nat., 1:95.

TYPE SPECIES: Peromyscus arboreus Gloger, 1841 (= Mus leucopus Rafinesque, 1818 ).

SYNONYMS: Haplomylomys , Sitomys , Vesperimus , Trinodontomys .

COMMENTS: The Drosophila of North American mammalogy, the alpha-level classification of the genus has been revised three times ( Osgood, 1909; Hooper, 1968b; Carleton, 1989) and its biology and evolution have been twice monographed ( King, 1968; Kirkland and Layne, 1989). Multispecies surveys have broadly sampled the morphology of the genus ( Carleton, 1973, 1980; Hooper, 1957, 1958; Hooper and Musser, 1964b; Linzey and Layne, 1969, 1974), its karyology ( Robbins and Baker, 1981; L. W. Robbins et al., 1983; Rogers et al., 1984; Stangl and Baker, 1984b), biochemical variation ( Avise et al., 1974a, b, 1979; Brownell, 1983; Fuller et al., 1984; J. C. Patton et al., 1981; Rogers and Engstrom, 1992; Schmidly et al., 1985; Zimmerman et al., 1978), and geographical ecology ( Glazier, 1980).

Major subdivisions of Peromyscus have received added revisionary attention, especially the eremicus ( Avise et al., 1974b; Lawlor, 1971a, b), maniculatus ( Allard et al., 1987; Gunn and Greenbaum, 1986), boylii ( Avise et al., 1974a; Bradley and Schmidly, 1987; Bradley et al„ 1989; Carleton, 1977, 1979; Schmidly, 1973a; Schmidly et al., 1988; Smith, 1990), truei ( Janecek, 1990; Modi and Lee, 1984; Schmidly, 1973b; Zimmerman et al., 1975), and mexicanus ( Huckaby, 1980; Musser, 1971a; Rogers and Engstrom, 1992; Smith et al., 1986) species groups.

Greater emphasis on phylogenetic systematics has altered Osgood's (1909) original generic scope. Baiomys and Ochrotomys have been removed and ranked as separate genera ( Carleton, 1980; Hooper, 1958; Hooper and Musser, 1964b). Taxa defined as subgenera by Hooper (1968b — Habromys , Isthmomys , Megadontomys , Osgoodomys , and Podomys ) have been considered distinct genera by Carleton (1980) but not others (Rogers, 1983; Stangl and Baker, 1984b; Yates et al., 1979). Expansion of the generic limits of Hooper (1968b) has been advocated to encompass Neotomodon ( Stangl and Baker, 1984b; Yates et al., 1979) and perhaps Onychomys ( Stangl and Baker, 1984b). Nomenclatural resolution of these alternative proposals awaits further study. Haplomylomys has been used as a subgenus to contain the californicus and eremicus species groups, all others being assigned to the subgenus Peromyscus; Carleton (1989) did not employ subgeneric divisions.