Name:_______________________________
Look at the following 3 scientific names for the North American field pocket mouse:
Perognathus californicus
Perognathus nelsoni
Perognathus spinatus
1. What genus do these animals belong to?
2. What are the species of these mice?
3. How much information can you infer about these animals based on their name? (Are any named
after a place, a person, or the way the fur looks?)
4. Can any of the three have offspring together? If so which ones? If not why?
5. What does the term binomial mean?