How big does a Merriam’s pocket mouse get? Here is an overview over the average adult age:
A grown Merriam’s pocket mouse (Perognathus merriami) reaches an average size of 5.8 cm (0′ 3″).
When born, they have an average size of 0 cm (0′ 0″). Usually, they reach an age of 2.5 years. A full-grown exemplary reaches roughly 6 grams (0.01 lbs). A Merriam’s pocket mouse has 4 babies at once. The Merriam’s pocket mouse (genus: Perognathus) is a member of the family Heteromyidae.
As a reference: Humans reach an average body size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) while carrying 62 kg (137 lbs). A human woman is pregnant for 280 days (40 weeks) and on average become 75 years old.
Merriam’s pocket mouse (Perognathus merriami) is a species of rodent in the family Heteromyidae. It is found in northeast Mexico and New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas in the United States. Its habitat is shortgrass prairie, desert areas with scrub and arid shrubland. The species is named to honor Clinton Hart Merriam, a biologist who first described several other members of the genus Perognathus, and first elucidated the principle of a “life zone” as a means of characterizing ecological areas with similar plant and animal communities.
Animals of the same family as a Merriam’s pocket mouse
We found other animals of the Heteromyidae family:
- Southern spiny pocket mouse with 2 babies per litter
- Phillips’s kangaroo rat with a size of 9.6 cm (0′ 4″)
- Desert kangaroo rat with a size of 13.8 cm (0′ 6″)
- Panamanian spiny pocket mouse with a size of 12.5 cm (0′ 5″)
- Sinaloan pocket mouse with a size of 7.1 cm (0′ 3″)
- Long-tailed pocket mouse with a size of 9.7 cm (0′ 4″)
- Painted spiny pocket mouse with a size of 11.4 cm (0′ 5″)
- San Diego pocket mouse with a size of 8.3 cm (0′ 4″)
- Desmarest’s spiny pocket mouse with 3 babies per litter
- Giant kangaroo rat with a size of 14.8 cm (0′ 6″)
Animals with the same size as a Merriam’s pocket mouse
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Merriam’s pocket mouse:
- Merriam’s shrew with a size of 6 cm (0′ 3″)
- Cowan’s shrew tenrec with a size of 6.3 cm (0′ 3″)
- Red fruit bat with a size of 6.1 cm (0′ 3″)
- Azumi shrew with a size of 6 cm (0′ 3″)
- Mindanao pygmy fruit bat with a size of 6.4 cm (0′ 3″)
- African pygmy squirrel with a size of 6.9 cm (0′ 3″)
- Little brown bat with a size of 5.2 cm (0′ 3″)
- Least shrew tenrec with a size of 5.2 cm (0′ 3″)
- North American least shrew with a size of 6.8 cm (0′ 3″)
- Southeastern shrew with a size of 5.1 cm (0′ 3″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Merriam’s pocket mouse
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (4) as a Merriam’s pocket mouse:
- Altai mole
- Boehm’s gerbil
- African pygmy mouse
- Sand cat
- Long-tailed dunnart
- Desert pocket gopher
- Tarbagan marmot
- Hairy-tailed bolo mouse
- Chelemys macronyx
- Marsh rice rat
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Merriam’s pocket mouse
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Merriam’s pocket mouse:
- North African elephant shrew with an average maximal age of 3 years
- Feather-tailed possum with an average maximal age of 2 years
- Long-nosed echymipera with an average maximal age of 2.83 years
- Asian house shrew with an average maximal age of 2.5 years
- Little red kaluta with an average maximal age of 3 years
- South African pouched mouse with an average maximal age of 2.75 years
- Ningbing false antechinus with an average maximal age of 2 years
- Cinnamon antechinus with an average maximal age of 2 years
- Swamp antechinus with an average maximal age of 2 years
- Red-tailed phascogale with an average maximal age of 3 years
Animals with the same weight as a Merriam’s pocket mouse
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Perognathus merriami:
- Hairy slit-faced bat bringing 7 grams to the scale
- Mexican big-eared bat bringing 7 grams to the scale
- São Tomé free-tailed bat bringing 7 grams to the scale
- Daubenton’s bat bringing 7 grams to the scale
- Malagasy serotine bringing 6 grams to the scale
- Grey long-eared bat bringing 6 grams to the scale
- Zacatecas shrew bringing 7 grams to the scale
- Trinidadian funnel-eared bat bringing 6 grams to the scale
- Malayan tailless leaf-nosed bat bringing 6 grams to the scale
- Scully’s tube-nosed bat bringing 5 grams to the scale