Endangered Alabama beach mouse recovers, slowly - Animal News: Animal Planet

Endangered Alabama beach mouse recovers, slowly - Animal News: Animal Planet: "When it comes to rare and endangered species, charismatic megafauna – including the big and scary, or alternatively, cute and cuddly – get the most press, but thousands of less “exciting” plants and animals still vie for attention. So it is with the federally endangered Alabama Beach Mouse (Peromyscus polionotus ammobates), a subspecies of “old field mouse” that lives in coastal sand dunes. I studied small mammals – as mice and rats are affectionately known to ecologists – for my Master’s and undergraduate research, so I’m partial to little furry rodents, but I can bet a pretty penny you most likely haven’t heard of this species unless you live in the state of Alabama. In all the world, this endangered critter lives only in the rolling white sand dunes on a sliver of habitat along Alabama’s coastline, incorporating the area known as the Alabama Gulf Shores. Who even knew Alabama had coastline, right? "