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False Lemming Mouse
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- Length
- 5.30 inches.
- Description
- Strikingly like the meadow mouse in external appearance but with rooted molar teeth. Pale yellow cinnamon brown above with an admixture of black hairs on the back, below whitish gray; tail dark above, white below.
- Range
- Known only from Ungava, Labrador and the north shore of Lake Superior in Ontario. A somewhat larger species occurs in Labrador and Quebec (P. celatus) and others in the Northwest.
The most interesting point in the history of this rare mouse is its close external resemblance to the meadow mouse. For many years specimens in the National Museum passed as meadow mice until Dr. Merriam discovered that the back (molar) teeth did not grow continuously from the bottom as do those of the meadow mice, but possessed regular roots as in the red-backed mice, a matter of small popular interest but of great scientific importance as it shows us one more link in the chain of evolution. Little is known of the habits of this mouse, though Mr. G. S. Miller, Jr., states that in Ontario he found it frequenting high upland barrens covered with stunted blueberry bushes. Its burrow was found running down by a decayed stump and terminating in a hollow, evidently intended for the winter nest. Blueberries appeared to constitute its principal food at this season.