Morro Bay Kangaroo Rat

The Morro Bay Kangaroo Rat (Dipodomys heermanni morroensis), is a rodent in the Heteromyidae family and endemic to San Luis Obispo County, California.

Morro Bay kangaroo rat
Conservation status
Endangered (ESA)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Heteromyidae
Genus:	Dipodomys
Species:	D. heermanni
Subspecies:	D. h. morroensis
Trinomial name
Dipodomys heermanni morroensis (Merriam, 1907)

The Morror Bay Kangaroo Rat lives in a restricted 2 km area south of Morro Bay in San Luis Obispo County, California. This species is found in warm and semi desert areas. Like gerbils and pyramid rats, they resemble little kangaroos, with well-developed hind limbs for jumping, short front limbs, and a long tail used for balance while leaping. As nocturnal animals, their eyes are very large. Their ears are average in size. The hair on their backs varies between brown and yellow, while the hair on their bellies is white. The Morro Bay kangaroo rat is 11 to 13 cm long and its tail measures between 16 and 19 cm. It weighs between 60 and 80 g.

The Morro Bay Kangaroo Rat subspecies is unique to Baywood fine sands, a soil type found in Morro Bay, Los Osos, and Montana de Oro State Park on the Central Coast of California. Their burrows enter the ground at an angle. The Morro Bay subspecies is the smallest of all subspecies. The male is measured to be 300.4 mm while the females are about 295.1 mm long.

Their primary food is seeds.

Dipodomys heermanni morroensis have 2 to 3 litters a year. The amount of pups in the litter ranges from one to seven with the average being two. They are born with no hair, eyes, ears closed, and toothless.

The Morro Bay Kangaroo Rat is federally endangered. As of 2023, despite numerous localized and range-wide surveys, the animal has not been detected by any of these analyses and has remained unseen since 1986.