Nevada mammals

Desert Pocket Mouse in Nevada

Chaetodipus penicillatus

Native to Nevada S1 Critically Imperiled in Nevada

Not listed as nonindigenous in Nevada by USGS NAS; native to its Nevada range.

IUCN Red List status

  1. LC
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

POCKETMOUSE, DESERT? (Chaetodipus penicillatus) (7-14-12) 78 circulo montana, patagonia lake ranch estates, scc, az -01 (7578750708)POCKETMOUSE, DESERT? (Chaetodipus penicillatus) (7-14-12) 78 circulo montana, patagonia lake ranch estates, scc, az -03 (7578741506)Desert pocket mouse walking across sandy soil beside a burrow edgeDesert pocket mouse tucked among rocks at night
Photo: ALAN SCHMIERER · CC0POCKETMOUSE, DESERT? (Chaetodipus penicillatus) (7-14-12) 78 circulo montana, patagonia lake ranch estates, scc, az -01 (7578750708)Photo: ALAN SCHMIERER · CC0POCKETMOUSE, DESERT? (Chaetodipus penicillatus) (7-14-12) 78 circulo montana, patagonia lake ranch estates, scc, az -03 (7578741506)Photo: tereka · CC BY-SA 4.0Desert pocket mouse walking across sandy soil beside a burrow edgePhoto: Kemper · CC0Desert pocket mouse tucked among rocks at night

Desert Pocket Mouse in Nevada, by the numbers

Occasional in Nevada 89th most recorded of 142 mammals logged in Nevada

15 occurrence records
14 with iNaturalist photos
Jun 26, 2026 Last seen in Nevada

Records from 2000–2026.

When to look for the Desert Pocket Mouse in Nevada

Most sightings fall in August.

15 Nevada occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence. Based on a small number of dated records; the seasonal pattern may not be representative.

Monthly Nevada records (table)
MonthRecords
January0
February0
March0
April3
May3
June1
July0
August4
September2
October1
November1
December0

Monthly desert pocket mouse occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in Nevada, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in Nevada, with recorded sightings peaking in August, with a smaller rise in April–May.

Occurrence map

Where Desert Pocket Mouse has been recorded in Nevada

15 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

15 Nevada records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Gold Butte National Monument 1

Protected places with the most desert pocket mouse sightings, from the USGS Protected Areas Database plus named mountain ranges, good spots to look, not a full breakdown, so they don't sum to the total.

Where it's recorded in Nevada

CountyRecords
Clark County 15

The complete county distribution, spread across 1 Nevada counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Nevada has 15 desert pocket mouse records from 2000 to 2026, every one of them from Clark County. That’s a thin record set, and only one record falls in a named protected area, Gold Butte National Monument.

The records are scattered from April through November without a clear peak. The file combines 14 research-grade iNaturalist records and 12 GBIF records; with the overlap between them removed, that’s 15 distinct records, which measure documented encounters, not Nevada’s population size. It’s native to Nevada. Nevada doesn’t specifically list it under the state’s conservation framework, and the IUCN lists it as Least Concern.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

POCKETMOUSE, DESERT? (Chaetodipus penicillatus) (7-14-12) 78 circulo montana, patagonia lake ranch estates, scc, az -01 (7578750708)
Full species profile Desert Pocket Mouse Chaetodipus penicillatus Size 7.7 cm3 in Weight 16 g0.6 oz Lifespan 1 yr View the full profile

More mammals in Nevada in the atlas

Data & sources

The data and visualizations on this page draw on these open sources:

  • GBIFCC-BY 4.0occurrence records behind the range map, elevation, and record counts
  • iNaturalistCC0 / CC-BY / CC-BY-SAobservations, photos, and audio recordings
  • NatureServe ExplorerCC-BYthe state conservation rank
  • IUCN Red Listattributed factthe global conservation status
  • USGS NASpublic domainnative / introduced status
  • Natural Earthpublic domainthe relief basemap
  • USFSpublic domainnational-forest boundaries
  • USGS Protected Areas Databasepublic domainthe named parks, forests, and refuges behind "notable places to look"