Texas mammals

Ord's Kangaroo Rat in Texas

Dipodomys ordii

Native to Texas S4 Apparently Secure in Texas

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

Ord's kangaroo rat standing in profile, showing its huge hind feet and long tufted tailOrd's kangaroo rat pausing alert at night, whiskers and dark eye lit by flashOrd's kangaroo rat sitting upright in sandy scrub habitatOrd's kangaroo rat among low shrubs on open sandOrd's kangaroo rat standing on gravel, showing its big ears and hind feet
Photo: ecovore · CC BY 4.0Ord's kangaroo rat standing in profile, showing its huge hind feet and long tufted tailPhoto: Juan Cruzado Cortés · CC BY 4.0Ord's kangaroo rat pausing alert at night, whiskers and dark eye lit by flashPhoto: Dominic Alianelli · CC0Ord's kangaroo rat sitting upright in sandy scrub habitatPhoto: Without Borders · CC0Ord's kangaroo rat among low shrubs on open sandPhoto: CK2AZ · CC BY 4.0Ord's kangaroo rat standing on gravel, showing its big ears and hind feet

Ord's Kangaroo Rat in Texas, by the numbers

Occasional in Texas 90th most recorded of 197 mammals logged in Texas

1,317 occurrence records
27 with iNaturalist photos
Feb 10, 2026 Last seen in Texas

Records from 2000–2026.

1,317 total records count every Texas occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 300; the monthly chart covers the 1,275 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Ord's Kangaroo Rat in Texas

Most sightings fall in March.

1,275 Texas occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence.

Monthly Texas records (table)
MonthRecords
January95
February109
March260
April146
May60
June132
July127
August78
September15
October48
November121
December84

Monthly ord's kangaroo rat occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in Texas, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in Texas, with recorded sightings peaking in March.

Occurrence map

Where Ord's Kangaroo Rat has been recorded in Texas

300 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

300 Texas records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Elephant Mountain Wildlife Management Area 13
Permanent University Fund 9
Monahans Sandhills State Park 8
Padre Island National Seashore 3
Big Bend National Park 3
Black Gap Wildlife Management Area 2
Caprock Canyons State Park 2
Matador Wildlife Management Area 2

Protected places with the most ord's kangaroo rat 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 Texas

CountyRecords
El Paso County 359
Webb County 76
Jim Hogg County 73
Brewster County 58
Kenedy County 50
Hutchinson County 47
Winkler County 46
Hemphill County 46
Culberson County 42
Presidio County 28
McCulloch County 27
Ward County 25
54 other counties 440

The complete county distribution, spread across 66 Texas counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Ord’s kangaroo rats are built for open, sandy ground: elongated hind feet over 1.4 inches long let them bound bipedally across the loose soils of San Angelo State Park, the Colorado River corridor, and Devils River State Natural Area, spanning west-central Texas mesquite country through to the Trans-Pecos. Loose, sandy substrate is the common thread across all three places, since it’s what lets the species dig its burrow system in the first place.

Texas has logged 1,317 records, and the overwhelming majority (1,311) come through GBIF rather than iNaturalist, so specimen surveys, not casual photos, are doing most of the documenting for this nocturnal, rarely-seen rodent. Reports peak in March, with a smaller July rise; NatureServe ranks the population S4, Apparently Secure, in the state.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Ord's kangaroo rat standing in profile, showing its huge hind feet and long tufted tail
Full species profile Ord's Kangaroo Rat Dipodomys ordii Size 21–36.5 cm8.3–14.4 in Weight 50 g1.8 oz Lifespan Up to 9.9 yr View the full profile

More mammals in Texas 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"