Peromyscus slevini Mailliard 1924

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Rodentia - Family Cricetidae, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 955-1189 : 1077

Peromyscus slevini Mailliard 1924

Peromyscus slevini Mailliard 1924 , Proc. California Acad. Sci., ser. 4, 12: 1221.

Type Locality: México, Baja California Sur, Santa Catalina Isl , 17 mi (27 km) NE Punta San Marcial, 25°43'50"N.

Vernacular Names: Catalina Deermouse.

Distribution: Known only from the type locality.

Conservation: IUCN – Critically Endangered.

Discussion: Species group indeterminate. Proposed derivation from a maniculatus like ancestor ( Lawlor, 1983) has been questioned on morphological (Carleton, 1989), chromosomal (Smith et al., 2000), and genetic grounds ( Hogan et al., 1997; Hafner et al., 2001). The latter molecular studies conflict in representing slevini either as a species cladistically basal to the P. leucopus and P. maniculatus species groups ( Hogan et al., 1997) or as another possible synonym of P. fraterculus ( Hafner et al., 2001) . Examination of vouchers used by Hafner et al. (2001) reveals those specimens ( CIB 703-708, 711, 714-717) to be examples of P. fraterculus , not the species described by Mailliard (1924) and later reported by Burt (1934) based on his 1931 fieldwork (M. Carleton and T. Lawlor, in prep.). Those used by Hogan et al. (1997) and Smith et al. (2000) do prove to be P. slevini proper (specimens in TCWC). As noted by Carleton (1989), the cranium of P. slevini exhibits resemblances to certain Peromyscus found on the Mexican mainland, explicitly with members of the P. melanophrys species group. The status and relationships of P. slevini and the identities of deermice currently inhabiting Santa Catalina warrant further investigation. See Alvarez-Castañeda and Cortés-Calva (2002, Mammalian Species, 705).