Ord's kangaroo rat lives in dry areas of western North America and moves by hopping on long hind legs. It carries seeds in its cheek pouches and stores them in burrows.
Its hind legs are longer than its forelegs, and its long tail has black-and-white bands and a tuft at the tip. It has cheek pouches for carrying food.
Ord’s Kangaroo Rat (Dipodomys ordii) had a significantly higher capture rate at CPER, the native shortgrass prairie site, than at STER, an active cropland site. It was also one of four species that pointed to the prairie site. When the species appeared in a trapping sample, the estimated probability that the sample came from CPER was 83.7%.
Researchers compared two nonadjacent sites in Colorado. Trapping began at CPER in 2013 and at STER in 2014. Box traps were typically set monthly or every other month for three consecutive nights. Analysis included 52 unique sampling bouts at CPER and 39 at STER; capture rates were standardized per 100 trap-nights. Data through 2023 included 4,254 captures of 13 species across 115,754 trap-nights.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.