Dipodomys californicus
California kangaroo rat

Dipodomys californicus is found in California as far south as San Francisco Bay and north to south-central Oregon. This species occurs on the floor of the Sacramento Valley and below 400 m in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges. (Grinnell, 1922)

Dipodomys californicus inhabits open grasslands or open areas in mixed chaparral. It prefers areas that get less than 50 cm of precipitation per year, and requires well drained soils that are suitable for burrowing. This species requires fine sand or soil for dust bathing. It is found from elevations of 60 to 400 m (Brylski, 2001; Kelt, 1988)

Dipodomys californicus ranges from 260 to 340 mm in total length. The tail is longer than the body at 152 to 217 mm in length. Like all kangaroo rats, these animals have large hind feet and small forefeet. Each of their feet has four toes. They have large eyes and ears and silky fur. They are dark colored on top, ranging from cinnamon to nearly black, and are very light underneath. Their long, well furred tail is tufted with white at the tip. They have external cheekpouches on each side of their face. The dental formula of D. californicus is 1/1 0/0 1/1 3/3. Males and females are similar although males tend to be slightly larger. The head-body length of these animals ranges from 260 to 340 mm. In general, D. californicus increase in size towards northern California and Oregon. The juveniles can be differentiated from the adults only by tooth wear and skull characteristics. The species can be differentiated from similar species such as Dipodomys deserti and Dipodomys merriami by their coloration and size. Dipodomys deserti is larger, D. merriami is smaller, and both species are lighter in color. Dipodomys californicus also has a broader face than either of these two species. (Kelt, 1988)

No data were found relating specifically to D. californicus. An individual of D. ordii is known to have lived in captivity for 9 years and 10 months. (Nowak, 1995; Nowak, 1999)

Kangaroo rats active mainly at night. They are solitary and fiercely territorial. They come together briefly for mating and their home territories may overlap some, but they mostly avoid contact with conspecifics. (Eisenberg, 1963)

Dipodomys californicus is not very vocal. Individuals of this species use scent marks and foot drumming to communicate with conspecifics. They mark their territory with scent and if they detect another kangaroo rat nearby, they hit their hind feet on the ground to create vibrations that signal to the other kangaroo rat to go away. No one is exactly sure how much is communicated by footdrumming, but some species of kangaroo rats have very complex footdrumming patterns. (Shier et al., 1999)

Dipodomys californicus eats mostly seeds and berries. It also consumes some tubers, green vegetation, and may eat a few insects. Individuals of this species make small food caches by burying food in an area near their burrow. Dipodomys californicus seems to prefer manzanita berries in the fall and green vegetation in the spring. They don't need a source a fesh water as they get water from their diet and through metabolic processes. This is widely thought to be an adaptation to life in an arid climate (Kelt, 1988; Nowak, 1995).

Foods eaten include: manzanita seeds and berries, Ceanothus seeds, rabbitbrush, lupines, bur-clover, insects, wild oats, small tubers and green vegetation.

Dipodomys californicus is preyed upon chiefly by stealthy hunters such as foxes and owls, so the large auditory bullae found in this species may be an adaptation to improve hearing and thus ability to detect predators. The very long hind legs and feet are an adaptation to enable kangaroo rats to escape quickly by ricocheting-type locomotion, and are found in all members of the genus. (Eisenberg, 1963)

Although this species is preyed upon by by several natural predators, it probably does not constitute a significant portion of their diets. Kangaroo rats in general are solitary and do not occur in high concentrations. They do aid in the dispersal of seeds as they don't eat every seed they stash. They are hosts to several species of flea and one species of tick. (Kelt, 1988)

D. californicus may have a slight impact on grain crops. (Eisenberg, 1963)

This species has no obvious benefit to humans.

Kangaroo rats have no special conservation status.

Dipodomys californicus was originally thought to be a subspecies of Dipodomys heermanni. Biochemical and other data now support the classification of D. californicus as a separate species. (Patton et al., 1976)