What is Silky pocket mouse?
{{speciesbox | name = Silky pocket mouse | image = Perognathus flavus.jpg | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name=iucn>{{cite iucn|author=Linzey, A.V.|author2=Timm, R.|author3=Álvarez-Castañeda, S.T.|author4=Castro-Arellano, I.|author5=Lacher, T.|year=2008|url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/details/16635/0|title=''Perognathus flavus''|access-date=12 August 2014}} Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern</ref> | genus = Perognathus | species = flavus | authority = [[Spencer Fullerton Baird|Baird]], 1855 | synonyms = | range_map = Perognathus flavus distribution.png | range_map_caption = Silky pocket mouse distribution in brown }} The '''silky pocket mouse''' (''Perognathus flavus'') is a species of [[rodent]] in the family [[Heteromyidae]].<ref name = MSW3>{{MSW3 Heteromyidae | id = 12700324 | pages = 857}}</ref> Like other members of [[Heteromyidae|the heteromyid family]], they are more closely related to [[pocket gopher]]s than to true [[mouse|mice]]. ==Characteristics== The silky pocket mice are small animals with soft [[fur]], long tails, and small feet compared to other heteromyids. They have long claws which they use for digging burrows and sifting sandy substrates for seeds. They have also been found to steal seeds from [[kangaroo rat]]s' dens.[http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/060811_desert_thieves.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060813221900/http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/060811_desert_thieves.html |date=2006-08-13 }} They store these seeds in large hairy external [[cheek pouch]]es. They are nocturnal and are found in arid habitats. They are not true [[Hibernation|hibernators]], but will go into [[torpor]] and stay in their burrows for extended periods of time. == Further reading == #Duff, A. and A. Lawson. 2004. Mammals of the World A Checklist. New Haven, Yale University Press. #Nowak, Ronald M. 1999. ''Walker's Mammals of the World'', 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1936 pp. {{ISB