Problem with Preble’s – Hesitant to that?

By Mike Dubrasich

Once upon a time There was a war of classification going on between two armed factions: the Lumpers and the Splitters. That war is now history, long gone. Splitters win and Lumpers lose, great timing.

For the uninitiated, Lumpers is a taxonomist who believes that most animals and plants should be classified as members of some well-defined species. They lost. The victorious dividers are those who believe that every individual creature is a species unto itself.

At first glance, it’s hard to see how well-mannered, docile, and bespectacled academics go around laboratories and peer into the scope of dissections that can be accused of war. This assertion seems to be a small hyperbole for the mixed company. But it was a war, with territorial conquest, mass destruction, combatant and non-combatant casualties, and a lot of damage.

One of the bloodiest battles was about a common rodent. Jerboa (Zapus hudsonius) is a cute little shuttlecock distinguished by a long, pointed tail, large hind paws, small front paws, and a tendency to jump erratically through grass when disturbed. Sometimes called kangaroo rats, Z. hudsonius Native to and common in Asia and North America, found from the Atlantic coast to the Great Plains, in the Southwest, Pacific Northwest, and north to the arctic tree line of Alaska and Canada, frequently have hay fields and wheat farms as well as native grasslands. Billions of tiny creatures live in perfect harmony with butchers and farmers on two continents. They have the widest known rat distribution in the subfamily Zapodinae.

That was before the Splitters weaponized the shrinking monsters. Today, there are dozens, possibly hundreds, of “recognized” species, subspecies, subspecies, subspecies, and Distinguishing Population Segments (DPS), including but not limited to: Z. trinotatus orarius, Z. burti, Z. hudsonicus, Z. hudsonicus acadicus, · Z. hudsonius (Jerboa), Z. hudsonius acadicus, Z. hudsonius alascensis (Alaska Jumping Rat)Z. hudsonius alscensis, Z. hudsonius americanus, Z. hudsonius campestris, Z. hudsonius canadensis, Z. hudsonius hardyi, Z. hudsonius hodsonius, Z. hudsonius Intermediateus, Z. hudsonius ladas, Z. luteus hudsonius (Mouse jumps grassland)Z. hudsonius pallidus, Z. hudsonius preblei (Preble Grasshopper)Z. hudsonius tenellus, Z. insignis, Z. orarius, Z. Princeps (Pacific Jumping Rat)Z. Princeps chrysogenys, Z. Princeps cinereus, Z. Princeps curatus, Z. Princeps idahoensis, Z. Princeps kootenayensis, Z. Princeps kootenayensis, Z. Princeps kootnayensis, Z. Princeps luteus, Z. Princeps major, Z. Little Princeps , Z. Princeps oreganus, Z. Princeps oregonus (Large jump rat), Z. Princeps pacificus, Z. Princeps palatinus and Z. Princeps Princeps (Western Jumping Rat).

Are there any significant differences between these subspecies? Short answer: no. Dr. Matthew Cronin, PhD, Professor of Animal Genetics, University. Alaska Fairbanks, writing in Cronin, MA 2007. Preble’s prairie gerbils: subjective subspecies, locomotion and management. Correspondence, Conservation of Animals 10 (2007) 159–161:

“…In summary, the Preble rat is designated as a subspecies with limited descriptive morphological data. There is no diagnostic character that clearly distinguishes it from the specific ones. It does not have a single defense mitochondrial DNA. It may be geographically isolated and have different allele frequencies from specific populations. The sample size and location studied may be small relative to the population size. Differences in allele frequencies for DNA loci are generally considered to be selectively neutral. There are no data to document local adaptation…”

Limited descriptive morphology is like evaluating pigs – not strictly scientific. But no problem. It seems that almost overnight, one species has become countless, and some obscure tribe is said to be, dum tata dum, endangered! The Splitters joined the band and played dreary tunes across the land. Sue’s happy enviros along with the snotty lawyers heard that and jumped on the court.

And so Preble’s MJM (Zapus hudsonius preblei) has been listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act by the authorities of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

When that happened, the proverbial stuff hit the fans because the real people were affected. Farmers, ranchers and suburban homeowners in the New Preble Quarters are at risk of losing their homes, land and livelihoods. Preble’s MJM went off the ESA list and then returned, but only in certain states. USFWS “experts” claim that this subspecies only exists up to a state line, which the rats never cross (for tax reasons, obviously). Congress participated and completed. When the smoke finally cleared the battlefield, the job was done and the war was lost. The Lumpers, who were few left, were defeated and destroyed. The spoils of war, mainly government subsidies and kickbacks, are accumulated for the victors.

It was 1995. Unsuccessful delisting lawsuits lasted until 2018. Meanwhile, large tracts of grassland were acquired by various governments and designated for Preble’s MJM habitat . Of course, breeding, farming, and living are explicitly banned in reserves, because rats cannot co-exist with humans (or so it has been claimed despite the millions of cases in which they live). happen). No Management has chosen as the wisest course of action.

Of course, the sensuous people in Boulder CO joined the victory parade. The Boulder County Comprehensive Plan has designated Critical Wildlife Conservation Areas, Habitat and Migration Corridors, and Preble Grasshopper Habitat Conservation Areas. These are selected areas”unique habitats that are important for sustaining native wildlife populations and maintaining and encouraging diversity of native species. ”

And last December, one of the selected areas and adjacent subdivisions was hit by a predictable wildfire that destroyed 1084 residential structures and damaged 149 others. Fortunately, only two people were killed. The total value of countywide residential damage due to the Marshall Fire was estimated at $513,212,589 [here]. Of course, global warming is the cause [here] instead of bogus taxonomists, grasping political functions, dim-witted planners, and rogue fanatics.