Wildlife of Florida Fact Sheet: Key Largo Woodrat
EDIS Cover Volume 2025 Number 2 frozen crops
View on Ask IFAS
PDF 2025

Keywords

endangered species
Key Largo Woodrat
Neotoma floridana smalli
Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge
Dagny Johnson Botanical State Park

Categories

How to Cite

McDonald, Brandon, Marcus Lashley, Michael Cove, and Carolina Baruzzi. 2025. “Wildlife of Florida Fact Sheet: Key Largo Woodrat: WEC470 UW528, 02 2025”. EDIS 2025 (2). Gainesville, FL. https://doi.org/10.32473/edis-uw528-2025.

Abstract

This publication is part of the Wildlife of Florida fact sheet series, created to provide the public with a quick and accurate introduction to Florida’s wildlife, including both native and invasive species. We hope these fact sheets inspire you to learn more about one of Florida’s rarest mammals, the Key Largo woodrat, as well as to investigate the other wildlife around your community and understand the amazing biodiversity in the state of Florida.

https://doi.org/10.32473/edis-uw528-2025
View on Ask IFAS
PDF 2025

References

Alligood, C. A., C. J. Wheaton, A. J. Deneault, R. C. Carlson, and A. Savage. 2009. “Behavioral Predictors of Copulation in Captive Key Largo Woodrats (Neotoma floridana smalli).” Behavioral Processes. 81 (2): 337–342. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2008.08.003

Alligood, C. A., C. J. Wheaton, H. M. Forde, K. N. Smith, A. J. Daneault, R. C. Carlson, and A. Savage. 2008. “Pup Development and Maternal Behavior in Captive Key Largo Woodrats (Neomtoma floridana smalli).” Zoo Biology. 27:394–405. https://doi.org/10.1002/zoo.20205

Cove, M. V., T. R. Simons, B. Gardner, A. S. Maurer, and A. F. O’Connell. 2017. “Evaluating Nest Supplementation as a Recovery Strategy for the Endangered Rodents of the Florida Keys.” Restoration Ecology. 25 (2): 253–260. https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.12418

Cove, M. V., and A. S. Maurer. 2019. “Home Decorating by an Endangered Ecosystem Engineer.” Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 17 (4): 231. https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2040

Cove, M. V., T. R. Simons, B. Gardner, and A. F. O’Connell. 2019. “Towards Recovery of an Endangered Island Endemic: Distributional and Behavioral Responses of Key Largo Woodrats Associated with Exotic Predator Removal.” Biological Conservation. 237:423–429. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.07.032

Goodyear, N. C. 1989. “Studying Fine-Scale Habitat Use in Small Mammals.” Journal of Wildlife Management. 53 (4): 941–946. https://doi.org/10.2307/3809592

Hersh, S. L. 1981. “Ecology of the Key Largo Woodrat (Neotoma floridana smalli).” Journal of Mammalogy. 62 (1): 202–206. https://doi.org/10.2307/1380498

Humphrey, S. R. 1992. “Key Largo Woodrat.” Pp. 119–130. in Rare and Endangered Biota of Florida. Vol. I. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.

Kanine, J. M., S. B. Castleberry, M. T. Megnak, and C. Winchester. 2015. “Seasonal Variation in Composition of Key Largo Woodrat (Neotoma floridana smalli) Diets.” Southeastern Naturalist. 14 (2): 405–414. https://doi.org/10.1656/058.014.0220

McCleery, R. A. 2003. “Aspects of Key Largo Woodrat Ecology.” [Masters thesis]. 83p. Texas A&M University. https://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/24

McCleery, R. A., J. A. Hostetler, and M. K. Oli. 2014. “Better off in the Wild? Evaluating a Captive Breeding and Release Program for the Recovery of an Endangered Rodent.” Biological Conservation. 169:198–205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2013.11.026

McDonald, B. M., C. Baruzzi, M. V. Cove, R. A. McCleery, and M. A. Lashley. 2023. “Simulated Extreme Climate Event Alters a Plant Frugivore Mutualism.” Forest Ecology and Management. 545c: 121294. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2023.121294

Sherman, H. B. 1955. “Description of a New Race of Woodrat from Key Largo, Florida.” Journal of Mammalogy. 36:113–120. https://doi.org/10.2307/1375731

Small, J. K. 1923. “Green Deserts and Dead Gardens.” Journal of the New York Botanical Garden. 24 (286): 215.

Terrell, S. P., F. C. Origgi, and D. Agnew. 2012. “Glomerulonephropathy in Aged Captive Key Largo Woodrats (Neotoma floridana smalli).” Veterinary Pathology. 49 (4): 710–716. https://doi.org/10.1177/0300985811404711

Thoemmes, M. S., and M. V. Cove. 2020. “Bacterial Communities in the Natural and Supplemental Nests of an Endangered Ecosystem Engineer.” Ecosphere. e03239. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3239

Wood, P. B. 2008. “Woodrat Population Dynamics and Movement Patterns.” Pp. 45–62 in The Allegheny Woodrat , edited by J. D. Peles and J. Wright. Springer, New York, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-36051-5_3

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. (2015). Status of the Species – Key Largo Woodrat. Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Copyright (c) 2025 UF/IFAS