CreatureData

Canyon mouse

Peromyscus crinitus (Merriam, 1891)

LCLeast Concernrodents

The canyon mouse (Peromyscus crinitus) is a species in the family Cricetidae, order Rodentia. Recorded adults weigh 16.3 g to 18 g and live up to 6.43 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

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Quick facts about the canyon mouse

Weight
16.3 g – 18 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
6.43 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Carnivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
7.7 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Gestation
24 days – 25 dayssrc for Gestation
Young per litter or clutch
3.08src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
70.6 dayssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
2.05src for Litters or clutches a year
Active
At night (nocturnal)src for Active
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the canyon mouse live?

Not recorded

What is the canyon mouse?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The canyon mouse (Peromyscus crinitus) is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is a species of the genus Peromyscus, a closely related group of New World mice often called "deermice". It is a gray-brown mouse-like rodent found in much of the western United States and northern Mexico. Its preferred habitat is arid, rocky desert. Vegetation has little or no effect on the distribution of canyon mice, it is instead associated with rocky substrate than any plant. Canyon mice forage in areas with shrub-like vegetation which can be used for protection against predators. It is the only species in the Peromyscus crinitus species group.

Canyon mice eat seeds, green vegetation, and insects. Small animals and insects make up a larger portion of diet when seeds and vegetation are rare. They breed in the spring and summer. Females can produce multiple litters of between two and five young every year. Males do not mate with more than one female, and the homes ranges of females and males overlap. Canyon mice are nocturnal and are active through the year. They usually nest among or below rocks in burrows.

The earliest fossils of canyon mice are from 100,000-130,000 years before present from the Los Angeles Basin.

From the Wikipedia article “Canyon mouse” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Canyon_mouse&oldid=1380656286), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the canyon mouse endangered?

The canyon mouse is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.

How is the canyon mouse classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classMammalia
  4. orderRodentia
  5. familyCricetidae
  6. genusPeromyscus
  7. SpeciesPeromyscus crinitus (Merriam, 1891)

Synonyms Hesperomys crinitus, Peromyscus crinitus delgadilli, Peromyscus crinitus disparilis, Peromyscus crinitus doutii, Peromyscus crinitus pallidissimus, Peromyscus crinitus pergracilis, Peromyscus crinitus peridoneus, Peromyscus crinitus rupicolus, Peromyscus crinitus scitulus, Peromyscus crinitus scopulorum, Peromyscus petraius, Peromyscus stephensi, Sitomys auripectus

Other names and names in other languages (8)
  • Canyon deermouseEnglish
  • Canyon deermouseEnglish
  • křeček kaňonovýCzech
  • Ratón de cañadaSpanish
  • kanjonipeurahiiruFinnish
  • キャニオンシロアシマウスJapanese
  • myszak wąwozowyPolish
  • Каньонный хомячокRussian

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the canyon mouse

Other species in the same genus Peromyscus.

LC, Least Concern
Cotton mouse (Peromyscus gossypinus)

Cotton mouse

Peromyscus gossypinus

Cricetidae

CompareCanyon mouse vs White-footed mouseCanyon mouse vs Eastern deer mouseCanyon mouse vs Cactus mouseCanyon mouse vs Cotton mouse

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the canyon mouse?

An adult canyon mouse weighs 16.3 g – 18 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the canyon mouse endangered?

The canyon mouse is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

How long does the canyon mouse live?

The canyon mouse has a recorded lifespan of 6.43 years.

How long is the canyon mouse pregnant?

The recorded gestation period is 24 days – 25 days.

What kind of animal is the canyon mouse?

The canyon mouse (Peromyscus crinitus) belongs to the family Cricetidae in the order Rodentia.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Canyon mouse (Peromyscus crinitus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/canyon-mouse

MLA

“Canyon mouse (Peromyscus crinitus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/canyon-mouse.

BibTeX
@misc{canyon_mouse_2026,
  title = {Canyon mouse (Peromyscus crinitus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/canyon-mouse},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}