Ratón cosechero de salinas

The salt-marsh harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys raviventris), also known as the red-bellied harvest mouse, is an endangered rodent endemic to the San Francisco Bay Area salt marshes in California. == Taxonomy == The two distinct subspecies are both endangered and listed together on federal and state endangered-species lists. The northern subspecies (R. r. halicoetes) is lighter in color and inhabits the northern marshes of the bay, and the southern subspecies (R. r. raviventris) lives in the East and South Bay marshes. They are both quite similar in appearance to their congener species, the western harvest mouse (R. megalotis), to which they are not closely related. Genetic studies of the northern subspecies have revealed that the salt-marsh harvest mouse is most closely related to the plains harvest mouse (R. montanus), which occurs in the Midwest. The endangered designation of the salt-marsh harvest mouse is due to its limited range, historic decline in population and continuing threat of habitat loss due to development encroachment on the perimeter of the San Francisco Bay. == Description == The southern population of the salt-marsh harvest mouse tends to have dark brown fur above and a pinkish cinnamon or tawny belly; moreover, the tail is likewise bicolored.…