Salvin's Spiny Pocket Mouse

Salvin's spiny pocket mouse (Liomys salvini) is a small to medium sized rodent. Like other pocket mice, it has external, fur-lined pouches in its cheeks for carrying seeds and other materials. Although the darkness of the fur can vary quite a bit geographically, it is always grey or grey-brown dorsally with cream-colored underparts, forelegs, and feet. The darker dorsal fur is meshed with dark spiny hairs and lighter, cream-colored hairs. The tail is approximately equal to the body length, bi-color, and nearly hairless (although it may have a short terminal hair cluster). In regions of overlap, L. salvini can be distinguished from other species by the lack of orange side stripes and a lack of dark forelimbs.