Bolivia pygmy anteater
| Bolivia pygmy anteater | ||||||||||||
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| Cyclopes catellus | ||||||||||||
| Thomas , 1928 |
The Bolivia silky anteater ( Cyclopes Catellus ) is a mammalian species in the genus of dwarf anteaters . The animals are native to central Bolivia and live on the slopes of the Andes , possibly isolated from other pygmy anteaters. Characteristics of the species are a yellowish-brown back and a dark belly stripe, as well as the relatively short tail. It was introduced in 1928 as a subspecies of the common pygmy anteater , but has been a separate species since 2017.
description
Habitus
The Bolivia pygmy anteater is a representative of the pygmy anteater. The holotype has a head-to-trunk length of 18.0 and a tail length of 20.5 cm. The tail is longer than the rest of the body and can be used as a grasping organ , but it is on average shorter in the Bolivian dwarf anteater than in most other dwarf anteaters. The back is largely yellowish-brown in color. On the other hand, yellowish tones dominate the abdomen, tail and legs. A back stripe along the body center line is not formed. Instead, there is a distinctive, broad median stripe on the ventral side. In this characteristic, the Bolivian pygmy anteater largely resembles Cyclopes thomasi from southwestern Brazil and central Peru , but the abdominal stripe is less noticeable. The fur is generally dense and soft, at the base of the tail the hair becomes very long, giving the tail a conical shape. As with most dwarf anteaters, the individual hairs do not have a medullary canal. The front legs end in two, the hind legs in four rays. All have strong claws.
Skull features
The skull becomes 53 mm long and at the cranium up to 24 mm wide. The arched forehead line and the retracted skull base, which are characteristic of dwarf anteaters, are striking. No indentation is formed in the contact area between the nasal and frontal bones . The two bone sutures of the nasal bone and the upper jaw run divergent to one another towards the front, the suture between the frontal bone and the upper jaw is again short. Furthermore, the bone seam between the frontal bone and the parietal bone shows a horseshoe-like course. The opening of the external auditory canal is directed forward. At the base of the skull, the wing bone overlaps the tympanic membrane .
distribution
The Bolivian pygmy anteater is endemic to South America . The distribution area is limited to central Bolivia . There the animals live in the partly deciduous forests on the slopes of the Andes . It is the southernmost occurrence of the dwarf anteater, possibly the species occurs in isolation from the other representatives.
Way of life
Information on the way of life of the Bolivian pygmy anteater is not available. As a rule, pygmy anteaters appear solitary and are nocturnal. They have adapted to life in the trees ( arboreal ), their main diet consists of state-building insects ( myrmecophag ). The gestation period is estimated to last 120 to 150 days.
Systematics
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Internal systematics of pygmy anteaters according to Miranda et al. 2017
No genetic data are yet available for Cyclopes catellus |
The Bolivia pygmy anteater is a species of the genus of the pygmy anteater ( Cyclopes ). According to molecular genetic studies from 2017, the genus consists of a total of seven species. It is currently the only member of the thus monotypic family of the Cyclopedidae within the suborder of the anteaters (Vermilingua). The family in turn stands as a sister taxon to the Myrmecophagidae , which group the other anteaters with the genera Myrmecophaga and Tamandua . The dwarf anteaters are the smallest representatives of the anteaters. They differ from the other anteaters in their behavior that is completely adapted to tree life.
The Bolivian pygmy anteater was first scientifically described by Oldfield Thomas in 1928 . He used a total of five individuals, including a young animal, from Buenavista in the Santa Cruz region in Bolivia . The region forms the type locality of the species, the animals were collected there in August 1924 by J. Steinbach at an altitude of 500 m. The holotype is a fully grown female. Thomas saw the new form as a subspecies of the common pygmy anteater ( Cyclopes didactylus ) and set it apart from the nominate form with the shorter tail, the missing back stripe and the distinctive and wide belly stripe, which is already developed in young animals. The subspecies status was hardly doubted in the following years , Alfred L. Gardner assigned the form Cyclopes didactylus codajazensis as a synonym in 2008 . This was introduced in 1942 by Einar Lönnberg on the basis of animals from western Brazil, but has a gray color and a stripe on the back, but not on the abdomen. The name is now used as a synonym for Cyclopes ida . After intensive molecular genetic and morphological studies of the pygmy anteaters, Flávia R. Miranda and colleagues raised the subspecies Cyclopes didactylus catellus to their own species status in 2017 ; they identified a total of seven species within the genus Cyclopes . In contrast to the other six, the species status of Cyclopes catellus is based on purely morphological, anatomical and geographical considerations, since genetic material was not available for genetic studies. The exact relationship of Cyclopes catellus to the other representatives of the dwarf anteaters is therefore currently unknown.
Threat and protection
The Bolivian pygmy anteater is currently not listed by the IUCN . The environmental protection organization indicates the status of the total population of dwarf anteaters as “not endangered” ( least concern ). However, local populations can be threatened by deforestation. The species has been observed in the Noel Kempff Mercado National Park , among others .
literature
- Flávia R. Miranda, Daniel M. Casali, Fernando A. Perini, Fabio A. Machado and Fabrício R. Santos: Taxonomic review of the genus Cyclopes Gray, 1821 (Xenarthra: Pilosa), with the revalidation and description of new species. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 20, 2017, pp. 1–35 doi: 10.1093 / zoolinnean / zlx079
- Flávia R. Miranda: Cyclopedidae (Silky anteaters). In: Don E. Wilson and Russell A. Mittermeier (eds.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 8: Insectivores, Sloths and Colugos. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2018, pp. 92-102 (p. 102) ISBN 978-84-16728-08-4
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Virginia Hayssen, Flávia Miranda and Bret Pasch: Cyclopes didactylus (Pilosa: Cyclopedidae). Mammalian Species 44 (1), 2012, pp. 51-58
- ↑ a b c Oldfield Thomas: The Godman Thomas expedition to Peru. VIII. On mammals obtained by Mr. Hendee at Pebas and Iquitos, upper Amazons. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 2, 1928, pp. 285-294
- ↑ a b c d e Flávia R. Miranda, Daniel M. Casali, Fernando A. Perini, Fabio A. Machado and Fabrício R. Santos: Taxonomic review of the genus Cyclopes Gray, 1821 (Xenarthra: Pilosa), with the revalidation and description of new species. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 20, 2017, pp. 1-35
- ↑ a b c Flávia R. Miranda: Cyclopedidae (Silky anteaters). In: Don E. Wilson and Russell A. Mittermeier (eds.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 8: Insectivores, Sloths and Colugos. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2018, pp. 92-102 (p. 102) ISBN 978-84-16728-08-4
- ^ A b c Alfred L. Gardner: Suborder Vermilingua Illiger, 1811. in: Alfred L. Gardner (ed.): Mammals of South America, Volume 1: Marsupials, Xenarthrans, Shrews, and Bats. University of Chicago Press, 2008, pp. 168-178
- ↑ Ingo Krumbiegel: The mammals of the South America expeditions Prof. Dr. War. 2. Anteaters. Zoologischer Anzeiger 131, 1940, pp. 161-188
- ^ Einar Lönnberg: Notes on Xenarthra from Brazil and Bolivia. Arkiv för Zoologi 34, 1942, pp. 1-58
- ↑ Flávia Miranda and DA Meritt Jr .: Cyclopes didactylus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2014. e.T6019A47440020 ( [1] ), last accessed January 6, 2018
- ↑ Louis H. Emmons: Fauna mamíferos del Parque Nacional Noel Kempff Mercado. In: Timothy J. Killeen and Thomas S. Schulenberg (eds.): A Biological Assessment of Parque Nacional Noel Kempff Mercado, Bolivia. Washington DC, 1998, pp. 136-143 and 341-347