Eastern woodrat

Eastern Woodrat
Neotoma floridana smalli
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Cricetidae
Genus:	Neotoma
Species:	N. floridana
Binomial name
Neotoma floridana (Ord, 1818)

The Eastern Woodrat (Neotoma floridana), is a species of pack rat that is native to the central and eastern United States. Its range extends from the latitude of southeastern New York south to the Gulf of Mexico. It has been recovered as a fossil from late Pleistocene deposits in southeastern New Mexico, several hundred miles southwest of its nearest current range.^{[citation needed]}

Neotoma magister was previously considered to be within N. floridana, but the two are now considered to be separate species.

As with most members of the genus^{[citation needed]}, it feeds opportunistically on nuts, seeds, fungi, buds, stems, roots, foliage and fruits. In the southern states it often lives in holes in the ground or hollow trees, constructing large nests.^{[citation needed]}

Predators include black rat snakes and long-tailed weasels.

The Eastern Woodrat has four clawed digits and a thumb on the front limbs, and five clawed digits on its rear limbs.

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Harris, A. H. 1984. Neotoma in the Late Pleistocene of New Mexico and Chihuahua. Special Publications, Carnegie Museum of Natural History 8:164-178.
• Linzey, A.V., Jordan, R.A. & Hammerson, G. (2008). "Neotoma floridana". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 04 February 2010. 
• Monty, Anne-Marie & Emerson, Robert E. (2003). "Eastern Woodrat". In Feldhamer, George A. et al. Wild mammals of North America: biology, management, and conservation. JHU Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-7416-1. 
• Wiley, R. W. 1980. Neotoma floridana. Mammalian Species, No. 139:1-7.