The loved and loathed Preble’s meadow jumping mouse was thought to be on its way to extinction when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared it “threatened” under the federal Endangered Species Act in 1998. Of course, the designation assumed the critter really was a distinct species in the first place.

And there’s the rub: Critics of the nearly two-decade-old listing still contend Preble’s never really was a specific kind of mouse. They say the identity was conjured up by conservationists bent on using it to stop development along the Front Range and areas of Wyoming, where it is found.

The mouse’s listing as a threatened species means its presence on a patch of land can bring a project to a halt while a sometimes-costly mitigation plan is developed and implemented on the parcel. Which is why developers and others have hauled the mouse to court a number of times over the years.

Now, as the Associated Press reports (via Denverite):

Homebuilders, ranchers and others have again asked the federal government to lift wildlife protections for a long-tailed mouse found in Colorado and Wyoming.

A petition filed with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Thursday revives a claim that the Preble’s meadow jumping mouse is not a distinct species but essentially the same as other, more plentiful mice.

The agency has 90 days to respond.

The Preble’s listing became a rallying cry for the political right over the years, demonstrating in its eyes a textbook case of federal overreach and encroachment on property rights.

So, will the mouse withstand the latest round of scrutiny? Or, be exposed as an imposter?