Nevada mammals

Desert Woodrat in Nevada

Neotoma lepida

Native to Nevada S5 Secure 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.

Desert woodrat facing the camera among desert rocks at nightPale desert woodrat walking over sandy soil with its long tail visibleDesert woodrat inside a sheltered nest entrance under rocks and dry plant materialDesert woodrat crouched in vegetation with large rounded ears and pale feet
Photo: Jason Eckberg · CC BY 4.0Desert woodrat facing the camera among desert rocks at nightPhoto: nmoorhatch · CC BY 4.0Pale desert woodrat walking over sandy soil with its long tail visiblePhoto: Trevor Van Loon · CC BY 4.0Desert woodrat inside a sheltered nest entrance under rocks and dry plant materialPhoto: Ken-ichi Ueda · CC BY 4.0Desert woodrat crouched in vegetation with large rounded ears and pale feet

Desert Woodrat in Nevada, by the numbers

Common in Nevada 15th most recorded of 142 mammals logged in Nevada

1,702 occurrence records
115 with iNaturalist photos
Jun 28, 2026 Last seen in Nevada

Records from 2000–2026.

1,702 total records count every Nevada occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 300; the monthly chart covers the 1,687 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Desert Woodrat in Nevada

Most sightings fall in May to July.

1,687 Nevada occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence.

Monthly Nevada records (table)
MonthRecords
January32
February26
March123
April82
May445
June277
July305
August155
September62
October67
November50
December63

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

Seasonality

Year-round in Nevada, with recorded sightings peaking in May–July.

Occurrence map

Where Desert Woodrat has been recorded in Nevada

300 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

300 Nevada records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Lake Mead National Recreation Area 66
Death Valley National Park 23
Gold Butte National Monument 19
Wee Thump Joshua Tree Wilderness Area 9
Basin and Range National Monument 8
Great Basin National Park 8
Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument 6
Toiyabe National Forest 6

Protected places with the most desert woodrat 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 696
Nye County 374
Lincoln County 169
Washoe County 88
White Pine County 77
Humboldt County 56
Esmeralda County 39
Elko County 39
Mineral County 33
Pershing County 28
Lyon County 25
Douglas County 18
5 other counties 60

The complete county distribution, spread across 17 Nevada counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Nevada records for the desert woodrat are anchored by Lake Mead National Recreation Area and Desert National Wildlife Refuge. They show where people have reported it, not how many animals live there.

The Nevada records bridge the state’s southern desert country and its higher central or northern ranges. That broad spread matters more than any single hotspot. The monthly pattern is fairly spread out rather than confined to one Nevada season. It tracks observer records and shouldn’t be read as a population count.

The file combines 115 research-grade iNaturalist records and 1,677 GBIF records. Those 1,792 records 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.

Desert woodrat facing the camera among desert rocks at night
Full species profile Desert Woodrat Neotoma lepida Size 17.1 cm6.7 in Weight 113 g4 oz Lifespan Up to 10.5 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"