Anderson Comb rat
| Anderson Comb rat | ||||||||||||
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| Ctenomys andersoni | ||||||||||||
| Gardner , Salazar-Bravo & Cook , 2014 |
The Anderson crested rat ( Ctenomys andersoni ) is a type of crested rat . The species, which was first scientifically described in 2014, is only known from Cerro Itahuaticua in Bolivia .
features
The Anderson comb rat reaches a total length of 18.8 to 31.0 centimeters and a tail length of 3.5 to 9.0 centimeters on average. The average ear length is 3 to 10 millimeters and the average hind foot length is 21 to 41 millimeters. It is a medium to large species of the genus. The back fur is dense and colored sand to medium brown. A thin olive-green stripe runs from the head to the back, the ventral side is pale olive-sand-colored with gray basal hair and a washed-in olive-green to sand-brown tone in the outer hair area.
The skull has a length of 30.6 to 50 millimeters and a width in the area of the zygomatic arches of 21.3 to 31.2 millimeters. It is well developed, the zygomatic arches are broad and the tympanic sacs are flattened. The nasal bones are broad and the lower jaw is strong with a sickle-shaped and strongly angled backward coronoid process of the mandible . The processus condylaris mandibulae is also strongly developed with a well developed joint area. The upper incisors are large, proodont, and coated with orange enamel .
The karyotype consists of a chromosome set of 2n = 46 chromosomes (FN = 50).
distribution
The Anderson crested rat lives in south-central Bolivia and is only known from its place of discovery on Cerro Itahuaticua from an altitude of 800 to 1800 meters.
Way of life
The habitats of the Anderson crested rat are characterized by vegetation of thorn bushes with various legumes and various cactus plants , especially opuntia . They live in the area of limestone cliffs on mountain slopes of the dry valleys of the Andes .
The Anderson crested rat lives like all other crested rats on the ground and digs in the ground. No information is available about their way of life.
Systematics
The Anderson comb rat is classified as an independent species within the genus of the comb rats ( Ctenomys ), which consists of about 70 species. The first scientific description of the species comes from Scott Lyell Gardner , Jorge Salazar-Bravo and Joseph A. Cook in 2014, who described it using individuals from the Cerro Itahuaticua. They described the species on the basis of molecular biological and anatomical features and distinguished it from the heather crested rat ( Ctenomys erikacuellarae ) and Yates crested rat ( Ctenomys yatesi ), which are also described in the same publication and also occur in Bolivia , which together form a taxon of comb rats form. The species was named after Sydney Anderson , the former curator at the Department of Mammalogy at the American Museum of Natural History .
Apart from the nominate form, no further subspecies are distinguished within the species .
Status, threat and protection
The Anderson comb rat is not listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) so far (as of January 2019).
supporting documents
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Anderson's Tuco-tuco. In: TRO Freitas: Family Ctenomyidae In: Don E. Wilson, TE Lacher, Jr., Russell A. Mittermeier (editor): Handbook of the Mammals of the World: Lagomorphs and Rodents 1. (HMW, Volume 6) Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2016, p. 513. ISBN 978-84-941892-3-4 .
- ↑ a b c d e Scott Lyell Gardner, Jorge Salazar-Bravo, Joseph A. Cook: New Species of Ctenomys Blainville 1826 (Rodentia: Ctenomyidae) from the Lowlands and Central Valleys of Bolivia. Faculty Publications on the Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology, Special Publications, Museum of Texas Tech University 62, 2014; Pp. 1-34; Full text .
literature
- Anderson's tuco-tuco. In: TRO Freitas: Family Ctenomyidae In: Don E. Wilson, TE Lacher, Jr., Russell A. Mittermeier (editor): Handbook of the Mammals of the World: Lagomorphs and Rodents 1. (HMW, Volume 6) Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2016, p. 513. ISBN 978-84-941892-3-4 .
- Scott Lyell Gardner, Jorge Salazar-Bravo, Joseph A. Cook: New Species of Ctenomys Blainville 1826 (Rodentia: Ctenomyidae) from the Lowlands and Central Valleys of Bolivia. Faculty Publications on the Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology, Special Publications, Museum of Texas Tech University 62, 2014; Pp. 1-34; Full text .