California mammals

Pale kangaroo mouse in California

Microdipodops pallidus

Native to California SNR Unranked in California

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

IUCN Red List status

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

Photo: nbonzey · CC BY-SA 2.0Kangaroo mouse

Pale kangaroo mouse in California, by the numbers

Occasional in California 125th most recorded of 241 mammals logged in California

186 occurrence records

1 with iNaturalist photos

Records from 2000–2026.

186 total records count every California occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 174; the monthly chart covers the 174 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Pale kangaroo mouse in California

Most sightings fall in July to September.

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

Monthly California records (table)

Month	Records
January	0
February	0
March	0
April	6
May	23
June	6
July	41
August	51
September	46
October	1
November	0
December	0

Monthly pale kangaroo mouse occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in California, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in California, with recorded sightings peaking in July–September.

Occurrence map

Where Pale kangaroo mouse has been recorded in California

174 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

174 California records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monument	iNaturalist records
Death Valley National Park	28

Protected places with the most pale kangaroo 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 California

County	Records
Inyo County	99
Mono County	75
Other localities	12

The complete county distribution, spread across 2 California counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

California’s combined state files contain 185 Pale kangaroo mouse records: 0 from iNaturalist and 185 from GBIF. It ranks 125th among 243 mammals in this California record comparison, placing it in the middle third. That’s a ranking of submitted records, not a head count of animals.

The monthly series reaches its high point in July, with 20 records in the busiest month. Records appear in 4 of 12 months, so the pattern shows when sightings were documented, not when the species must be present or absent.

California accounts for about 14% of the mapped GBIF records summarized on the national Pale kangaroo mouse page. That’s a modest share of the known record footprint, though differences in survey effort can strongly shape the percentage.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Full species profile Pale kangaroo mouse Microdipodops pallidus Size 7.5 cm3 in Weight 14 g0.5 oz View the full profile

More mammals in California 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"