Discrimination between Peromyscus leucopus noveboracensis and Peromyscus maniculatus nubiterrae in the field

Abstract

Syntopic Peromyscus leucopus noveboracensis (Fischer, 1829) and P. maniculatus nubiterrae (Rhoads, 1896) exhibit considerable overlap in external morphologies in the Appalachian mountains of the Eastern United States, making field identification of live individuals questionable in some instances. We compared two techniques for correctly identifying these live individuals in the field: the tail : body ratio and weight criterion, and discriminant function analysis of external morphological characters