It is hard to guess what a Merriam’s kangaroo rat weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Merriam’s kangaroo rat (Dipodomys merriami) on average weights 37 grams (0.08 lbs).
The Merriam’s kangaroo rat is from the family Heteromyidae (genus: Dipodomys). It is usually born with about 3 grams (0.01 lbs). They can live for up to 2 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 4.9 cm (0′ 2″). On average, Merriam’s kangaroo rats can have babies 1 times per year with a litter size of 2.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
Merriam’s kangaroo rat (Dipodomys merriami) is a species of rodent in the family Heteromyidae. The species name commemorates Clinton Hart Merriam.
Animals of the same family as a Merriam’s kangaroo rat
We found other animals of the Heteromyidae family:
- Pale kangaroo mouse with a weight of 13 grams
- Silky pocket mouse with a weight of 7 grams
- Chisel-toothed kangaroo rat with a weight of 56 grams
- Long-tailed pocket mouse with a weight of 20 grams
- Narrow-faced kangaroo rat with a weight of 81 grams
- White-eared pocket mouse with a weight of 23 grams
- California kangaroo rat with a weight of 85 grams
- Desert pocket mouse with a weight of 15 grams
- Fresno kangaroo rat with a weight of 41 grams
- Hispid pocket mouse with a weight of 35 grams
Animals with the same weight as a Merriam’s kangaroo rat
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Dipodomys merriami:
- Mountain tube-nosed fruit bat bringing 43 grams to the scale
- Japanese water shrew bringing 36 grams to the scale
- Western mouse bringing 34 grams to the scale
- Salvin’s spiny pocket mouse bringing 42 grams to the scale
- Luzon Cordillera forest mouse bringing 34 grams to the scale
- Elegant water shrew bringing 38 grams to the scale
- Asian house shrew bringing 43 grams to the scale
- Chihuahuan mouse bringing 40 grams to the scale
- Desert mouse bringing 37 grams to the scale
- Jamaican fruit bat bringing 42 grams to the scale
Animals with the same size as a Merriam’s kangaroo rat
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Merriam’s kangaroo rat:
- Slender shrew with a size of 5.3 cm (0′ 3″)
- Long-tailed shrew with a size of 5.5 cm (0′ 3″)
- Arizona shrew with a size of 5.8 cm (0′ 3″)
- American pygmy shrew with a size of 5.3 cm (0′ 3″)
- Pallas’s long-tongued bat with a size of 4.8 cm (0′ 2″)
- Southeastern shrew with a size of 5.1 cm (0′ 3″)
- Ornate shrew with a size of 4.9 cm (0′ 2″)
- Madagascar sucker-footed bat with a size of 5.8 cm (0′ 3″)
- Woermann’s bat with a size of 4 cm (0′ 2″)
- Ash-colored Oldfield mouse with a size of 5.7 cm (0′ 3″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Merriam’s kangaroo rat
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (2) as a Merriam’s kangaroo rat:
- Giant otter
- Lesser bilby
- Asian particolored bat
- Slender rat
- Burmese ferret-badger
- Smith’s red rock hare
- Niobe’s shrew
- Leopard
- Banana climbing mouse
- Blanford’s rat
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Merriam’s kangaroo rat
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Merriam’s kangaroo rat:
- Mediterranean water shrew with an average maximal age of 2 years
- Dusky antechinus with an average maximal age of 2 years
- Tundra vole with an average maximal age of 1.75 years
- Heermann’s kangaroo rat with an average maximal age of 2.33 years
- Robinson’s mouse opossum with an average maximal age of 2 years
- Müller’s giant Sunda rat with an average maximal age of 2 years
- Campbell’s dwarf hamster with an average maximal age of 1.75 years
- Eurasian pygmy shrew with an average maximal age of 2 years
- Mongolian gerbil with an average maximal age of 2 years
- Cinereus shrew with an average maximal age of 1.92 years