Giant Kangaroo Rat
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{{Taxobox | color = pink | name = Giant Kangaroo Rat | status = Conservation status: Critical | image = Dipodomys ingens.jpg | image_width = 240px | regnum = Animalia | phylum = Chordata | classis = Mammalia | subclassis = Eutheria | ordo = Rodentia | familia = Heteromyidae | genus = Dipodomys | species = D. ingens | binomial = Dipodomys ingens | binomial_authority = (Merriam, 1904) }}
The Giant Kangaroo Rat (Dipodomys ingens) is an endangered rodent species endemic to California. It is the largest of the kangaroo rats, measuring about 15 cm (6 in.) in length, not including its long, tufted tail. It is buffy or brown in color. Like other kangaroo rats it has a large head and large eyes, and long, strong hind legs with which it can hop at high speeds.
The Giant Kangaroo Rat lives on dry, sandy grasslands and digs burrows in loose soil. It lives in colonies, and the individuals communicate with each other by drumming their feet on the ground. These audible signals serve both as a warning of approaching danger, and as a territorial communication.
This species was declared endangered on both the federal and California state levels in the 1980's. It inhabits a mere 2% of its original range, and can now be found only in isolated areas west of the San Joaquin Valley, including the Carrizo Plain, the Elkhorn Plain, and the Kettleman Hills. The Giant Kangaroo Rat, like many other rodent species, lost much of its habitat as the Central Valley fell under agricultural use.