Neotoma (Neotoma) floridana (Ord 1818)

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 : 1055

Neotoma (Neotoma) floridana (Ord 1818)

[Mus] floridanus Ord 1818 , Bull. Sci. Soc. Philom. Paris, 1818: 181.

Type Locality: USA, Florida, Duval Co., St. Johns River, near Jacksonville.

Vernacular Names: Eastern Woodrat.

Synonyms: Neotoma (Neotoma) attwateri Mearns 1897 ; Neotoma (Neotoma) baileyi Merriam 1894 ; Neotoma (Neotoma) campestris J. A. Allen 1894 ; Neotoma (Neotoma) haematoreia A. H. Howell 1934 ; Neotoma (Neotoma) illinoensis A. H. Howell 1910 ; Neotoma (Neotoma) osagensis Blair 1939 ; Neotoma (Neotoma) rubida Bangs 1898 ; Neotoma (Neotoma) smalli Sherman 1955 .

Distribution: SC and SE USA (see Monty et al., 1995, for range enhancement in Illinois), from EC Colorado to C Texas, eastwards to the Atlantic seaboard, from S North Carolina to peninsular Florida; isolated population on Florida Keys ( smalli ).

Conservation: U.S. ESA – Endangered as N. f. smalli ; IUCN – Endangered N. f. smalli , Lower Risk (nt) as N. f. baileyi and N. f. haematoreia , otherwise Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Subgenus Neotoma , floridana species group ( sensu Edwards and Bradley, 2002 b ). Hybridization with N. micropus possible but introgression along narrow contact zone judged insubstantial (Birney, 1973). See Planz et al. (1996) and Edwards et al. (2001) for studies of kinship and phylogeography based on DNA information. Whitaker and Hamilton (1998) implied that eastern populations (except smalli ) are all synonymous with the nominate subspecies, a possibility consistent with the study of Edwards et al. (2001), who noted well-marked western and eastern clades among the subspecies sampled, coincident with the Mississippi River; denser geographic sampling is required. Few records from the Edwards Plateau, C Texas, reviewed by Goetze (1998); genetic differentiation and status of populations in S Illinois assessed by Monty et al. (2003). Formerly included magister as a subspecies (see below). See Wiley (1980, Mammalian Species, 139).