Banner-tailed Kangaroo Rat

The banner-tailed kangaroo rat (Dipodomys spectabilis) is a species of rodent in the family Heteromyidae. It is found in arid environments in the southwestern United States and Mexico where it lives in a burrow by day and forages for seeds and plant matter by night. == Description == The banner-tailed kangaroo rat can grow to a length of about 34 cm (13 in). The dorsal surface is ochre-buff with some black-tipped hairs and the underparts are white. The species' most distinctive characteristic is the black-banded, white-tipped bushy tail which is waved like a banner. The hind legs of the kangaroo rat are much longer than its forelegs and locomotion is by hopping. == Distribution and habitat == The banner-tailed kangaroo rat is found in the southwestern United States and Mexico in two isolated populations. The range of the larger northern population includes arid parts of western Texas, much of Arizona and northern New Mexico, and the Mexican states of Sonora, Chihuahua and Zacatecas. The southern population occurs mostly in the Mexican states of Aguascalientes and San Luis Potosí. This kangaroo rat inhabits desert grassland with isolated scrubby bushes. It dies out of an area if the shrub cover increases to…