Description: Desert Kangaroo Rats (Dipodomys deserti) are among the largest kangaroo rats (head and body: to 6-1/2 inches; tail: to 8-1/2 inches; total length to about 15 inches). Body color usually is pale yellowish brown above, light below. Hind foot with 4 toes; toes clearly visible through the hairs. Tail dark with light stripes on the sides and a white tuft at the tip. This is the only kangaroo rat around Las Vegas with a white tuft on the tip of the tail, and it is the only kangaroo rat that regularly digs burrows in soft sand.

Taxonomy: Order: Rodentia, Family: Heteromyidae.

Diet: Feeds on dry seeds. Does not require free water.

Habitat: Found in areas with deep, loose sand (but not shifting sand dunes) in the Lower Sonoran (Creosote-Bursage Flats) and Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub) life zones.

Range: Northwestern Nevada south into northern Mexico. In Nevada, this species is found in lower-elevation desert areas into the northwest corner of the state.

Comments: Nocturnal and solitary. When excited, kicks sand and drums the ground with its hind feet.