Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of Natural History: American Mammals: Pale Kangaroo Mouse
Most Pale Kangaroo Mice live in high, cold desert in Nevada; there is also a small population in eastern California. They look like small kangaroo rats, and like them, can hop on their large hind feet. Learn more about the Microdipodops...
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of Natural History: American Mammals: White Eared Pocket Mouse
One subspecies of the White-eared Pocket Mouse may be extinct, and the other is extremely rare, consisting of isolated, relict populations near the western Mojave Desert in California. White-eared Pocket Mice are nocturnal and probably...
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of Natural History: American Mammals: Merriam's Pocket Mouse
Merriam's Pocket Mice are found in short-grass prairie, desert scrub, and open, arid brushland. They are most common where the vegetation is dense enough to provide them with seeds and some protection from predators, but not so dense...
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of Natural History: American Mammals: Mesquite Mouse
Mesquite Mice live in dense mesquite thickets known as bosques. Although mesquite is the dominant plant in bosques, other desert plants such as palo-verde, prickly pear, and cholla cacti, and grasses, mix with the mesquite. Learn more...
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of Natural History: American Mammals: Mule Deer
Mule Deer live in a broad range of habitats - forests, deserts, and brushlands. Mountain populations migrate to higher elevation in warmer months, looking for nutrient-rich new-grown grasses, twigs, and shrubs. Learn more about the...
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of Natural History: American Mammals: Long Legged Myotis
Long-legged myotis typically occupy mountainous or relatively rugged areas. They often live in coniferous forests, although they are sometimes found in oak or streamside woodlands, and even deserts. Learn more about the Myotis volans,...
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of Natural History: American Mammals: Yellow Faced Pocket Gopher
The Yellow-faced Pocket Gopher feeds on starchy, tuberous roots of desert shrubs and on the roots and leaves of low-growing forbs. Like other pocket gophers, this species is considered an agricultural pest, doing extensive damage in...
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of Natural History: American Mammals: Western Pipistrelle
Western pipistrelles sometimes leave their roosts before sundown and can be mistaken for late-flying butterflies, because they are so tiny and fly slowly and erratically, with much fluttering of their wings. Most common at low elevations...
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of Natural History: American Mammals: Nelson's Pocket Mouse
Nelson's Pocket Mice live in the Chihuahuan Desert of north-central Mexico and adjacent parts of western Texas and southern New Mexico. They are found mostly in rocky areas where there are some shrubs to provide cover. Learn more about...
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of Natural History: American Mammals: Piute Ground Squirrel
Piute Ground Squirrels are adapted to desert life. Their kidneys efficiently conserve water, and they are able to withstand high temperatures. Learn more about the Spermophilus mollis, more commonly known as a Piute Ground Squirrel, in...
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of Natural History: American Mammals: Mohave Ground Squirrel
The Mohave Ground Squirrel occupies a relatively tiny part of the Mohave Desert and is rarely seen since it spends more than half the year underground in a burrow. Estivation, the hot-weather equivalent of hibernation, and hibernation...
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of Natural History: American Mammals: Merriam's Ground Squirrel
Merriam's Ground Squirrels live in high desert habitat dominated by big sagebrush, western juniper, and greasewood, and are also found in grasslands and agricultural lands. They eat grasses and forbs. Learn more about the Spermophilus...
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of Natural History: American Mammals: Palmer's Chipmunk
Palmer's chipmunks live in a "sky island" mountains in southwestern Nevada surrounded by deserts the chipmunks cannot cross. They are common there, foraging where rocks or fallen logs provide cover. Learn more about the Tamias palmeri,...
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of Natural History: American Mammals: San Diego Pocket Mouse
The San Diego Pocket Mouse occurs in desert and coastal habitats in southern California, Mexico, and northern Baja California, from sea level to at least 1,400 m. Yellowish or orange hair on its sides contrasts with a dark brown back,...
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of Natural History: American Mammals: White Tailed Antelope Squirrel
White-tailed Antelope Squirrels can often be seen in western and southwestern deserts, especially in shrubby areas with rocky soil. They do not hibernate, but in cold winter weather, several may huddle together in a burrow to keep warm....
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of Natural History: American Mammals: Underwood's Mastiff Bat
Underwood's mastiff bats have been seen roosting in hollow trees and under palm fronds, and have been captured in mist nets over pools of water in the desert, but little is known about their daytime roosting habits or about their winter...
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of Natural History: American Mammals: Crawford's Gray Shrew
These shrews live in deserts, but they seek out moister microhabitats within them, such as brush piles or fallen logs. They have been found in beehives, and their tiny, golfball-sized nests have been found in dens built by and sometimes...
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of Natural History: American Mammals: Little Pocket Mouse
Because they use energy and water so efficiently, Little Pocket Mice can inhabit some of the driest and least vegetated parts of North America. They are abundant in deserts of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, and...
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of Natural History: American Mammals: Kit Fox
The kit fox has been thought by some to be a subspecies of the swift fox. This fox currently inhabits desert and semi-arid regions between the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Rocky Mountains and on down into Baja California and the North...
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of Natural History: American Mammals: Townsend's Pocket Gopher
Townsend's Pocket Gophers require deep, moist soils of river valleys and ancient lake beds. Other pocket gophers that are found in the same region, in the northern Great Basin, prefer different soil types: Botta's Pocket Gopher is...
Other
Virtual Exploration Society: Roy Chapman Andrews
Read about a real life Indiana Jones. Roy Andrews was a paleontologist who discovered fossils from the Cretaceous period in the middle of the Gobi Desert.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Harcourt: Biographies: Colin Powell (Spanish Version)
A look at the fast-paced and successful career of General Powell. Find out more about this talented and patriotic American. (In Spanish)
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Harcourt: Biographies: Colin Powell
A look at the fast-paced and successful career of General Powell. Find out more about this talented and patriotic American.
Smithsonian Institution
National Portrait Gallery: Black List Project: Colin Powell
With this resource, users can discover the story of politician, General Colin Powell, Secretary of State under President George W. Bush. View a photo and read a biography of the African American man who held the highest rank in the...