Every one of New Mexico’s white-toothed woodrat records comes from GBIF specimen data, with no iNaturalist photos in the mix at all. That fits a species only recently recognized on its own, split off from the more familiar white-throated woodrat once genetic work showed populations east of the Rio Grande were distinct. Bosque del Apache and Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuges, both built around river and wetland habitat, trace the canyon and streamside cover this packrat favors along the Rio Grande corridor.
NatureServe hasn’t assigned New Mexico’s population a conservation rank yet, listing it simply as unranked. That’s a data gap rather than a warning sign, a natural consequence of a species this newly separated from its lookalike.
Reports jump sharply in March, dip in April, rise again in June, then fall off for the rest of the year. With a record this thin, that pattern likely reflects a handful of trapping surveys rather than any real seasonal surge in the population.
Full species profile
