It is hard to guess what a Ord’s kangaroo rat weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Ord’s kangaroo rat (Dipodomys ordii) on average weights 50 grams (0.11 lbs).
The Ord’s kangaroo rat is from the family Heteromyidae (genus: Dipodomys). It is usually born with about 5 grams (0.01 lbs). They can live for up to 9.75 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 11.4 cm (0′ 5″). On average, Ord’s kangaroo rats can have babies 2 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.
Ord’s kangaroo rat (Dipodomys ordii) is a kangaroo rat native to western North America, specifically the Great Plains and the Great Basin, with its range extending from extreme southern Canada to central Mexico.Ord’s kangaroo rat has a fifth toe on its hind feet, which distinguishes it from Dipodomys elator. It is bicolored with gold-brown dorsal hair and a white stomach. It has a long tail with a bushy tip, and is dark dorsally and ventrally with a white lateral stripe. Its hind feet are modified for jumping, and exceed 35 mm in length, and its total length exceeds 240 mm. Its tail is usually less than 160 mm, distinguishing it from D. elator (which exceeds 160 mm).Though a common species in the United States, the population in Canada is considered endangered.
Animals of the same family as a Ord’s kangaroo rat
We found other animals of the Heteromyidae family:
- Sinaloan pocket mouse with a weight of 17 grams
- California pocket mouse with a weight of 23 grams
- Merriam’s pocket mouse with a weight of 6 grams
- Narrow-faced kangaroo rat with a weight of 81 grams
- San Diego pocket mouse with a weight of 19 grams
- Phillips’s kangaroo rat with a weight of 41 grams
- Mexican spiny pocket mouse with a weight of 49 grams
- Plains pocket mouse with a weight of 9 grams
- Dark kangaroo mouse with a weight of 12 grams
- Nelson’s pocket mouse with a weight of 15 grams
Animals with the same weight as a Ord’s kangaroo rat
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Dipodomys ordii:
- Cape short-eared gerbil bringing 54 grams to the scale
- Arends’s golden mole bringing 52 grams to the scale
- Cave nectar bat bringing 58 grams to the scale
- Pale-faced bat bringing 55 grams to the scale
- Northern collared lemming bringing 46 grams to the scale
- Garlepp’s mouse bringing 59 grams to the scale
- Yellow-footed antechinus bringing 44 grams to the scale
- Short-tailed gymnure bringing 60 grams to the scale
- Southern marsupial mole bringing 56 grams to the scale
- Verreaux’s mouse bringing 41 grams to the scale
Animals with the same size as a Ord’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 Ord’s kangaroo rat:
- Western chestnut mouse with a size of 10.1 cm (0′ 4″)
- Mongolian gerbil with a size of 11.2 cm (0′ 5″)
- Mexican volcano mouse with a size of 11.5 cm (0′ 5″)
- Forest Oldfield mouse with a size of 10.6 cm (0′ 5″)
- Emilia’s short-tailed opossum with a size of 13.4 cm (0′ 6″)
- African giant shrew with a size of 10.8 cm (0′ 5″)
- Yellow golden mole with a size of 10 cm (0′ 4″)
- Alpine chipmunk with a size of 10.4 cm (0′ 5″)
- Agile gracile opossum with a size of 9.4 cm (0′ 4″)
- Four-striped grass mouse with a size of 10.8 cm (0′ 5″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Ord’s kangaroo rat
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (2) as a Ord’s kangaroo rat:
- North African elephant shrew
- Lowland ringtail possum
- Tome’s spiny rat
- Durango chipmunk
- Crested porcupine
- Collared tuco-tuco
- Red-bellied mosaic-tailed rat
- Spotted linsang
- Pygmy rock mouse
- Marsh rabbit
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Ord’s kangaroo rat
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Ord’s kangaroo rat:
- Pale fox with an average maximal age of 10 years
- Chinese ferret-badger with an average maximal age of 10.5 years
- Mindanao treeshrew with an average maximal age of 11.5 years
- Fischer’s pygmy fruit bat with an average maximal age of 10 years
- Red-tailed chipmunk with an average maximal age of 8 years
- Common dwarf mongoose with an average maximal age of 10.92 years
- Crab-eating fox with an average maximal age of 11.5 years
- Taruca with an average maximal age of 10.58 years
- Naked mole-rat with an average maximal age of 10 years
- Edible dormouse with an average maximal age of 9 years