We report photo documentation of a newly discovered fur variation on the face of American Deer Mice, Peromyscus maniculatus, in populations across northern Nevada. American Deer Mice usually have all-brown facial fur with dark-colored ears, whereas these novel records show white fur patches at the base of the ears, sometimes with bicolored ears and white fur extending behind, and more rarely with a white strip of fur down the middle of the face. Across all field sites, we captured 1685 Deer Mice; of these, 216 had some variation of the white facial fur patterns. These facial patterns are most prominent in northeastern Nevada, comprising 13 to 16% of all Deer Mice captured.

Miles, D. C., Burrus, K. R., & Shoemaker, K. T. 2021, Distinct White Facial-Fur Patterns Of Deer Mouse (Peromyscus Maniculatus) Populations In Northern Nevada., Northwestern Naturalist, 102(3), 254–257

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