Painted spiny pocket mouse

The painted spiny pocket mouse (Heteromys pictus) is a species of rodent in the family Heteromyidae, found in Mexico and the northern tip of Guatemala. It was formerly placed in the genus Liomys, which is now recognised to be paraphyletic and has been subsumed into Heteromys. It is a medium-sized species with a head and body length of about 12 cm and a tail as long again. The coat mixes stiff spines with soft hairs, reddish-brown above and white below, with a lateral line of ochre between the two colours. It lives at altitudes up to 1,000 metres, in dry deciduous woodland and bushy scrubland and near streams in otherwise arid regions. It is nocturnal and solitary, lives in a burrow, collects seeds in its cheek pouches and eats mainly seeds, green vegetation and small invertebrates. Breeding occurs through most of the year with litters of two to six after a gestation of about 25 days. The IUCN lists it as Least Concern, although its population trend is downward because of forest clearance.