Conover Comb rat
| Conover Comb rat | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Ctenomys conoveri | ||||||||||||
| Osgood , 1946 |
The conover crested rat ( Ctenomys conoveri ) is a type of crested rat . The species was first scientifically described in 1946 by Wilfred Hudson Osgood from Paraguay . The species occurs in the south of Bolivia and in the north of Paraguay, about the way of life of the animals only little information is available.
features
The conover crested rat is the largest species in the genus. It reaches a head-torso length of up to about 59 centimeters and a tail length of up to 12 centimeters with a weight of up to 1.2 kilograms. The hind foot length with claw is about 60 millimeters, the ear length is up to 15 millimeters. The males are larger than the females. The fur of the animals is long and relatively rough. It is evenly cinnamon brown to reddish brown with slight tints of grayish and white hair on the back. The ventral side is pale sandy brown. The tail is very hairy, it is red-brown on the top with a white center line to the tip of the tail and pale brown on the underside.
The skull is strong and angular. The zygomatic arch has a pronounced crest on the high and wide dorsal process. In many adult animals, the fronto-parietal window is not closed.
The karyotype consists of a chromosome set of 2n = 48 chromosomes (FN = 64) in Bolivia and 2n = 50 chromosomes (FN = 64) in Paraguay. The sperm are built slightly asymmetrically.
distribution
The Conover crested rat lives in southern Bolivia in the departments of Santa Cruz , Chuquisaca and Tarija and in northern Paraguay in the department of Boquerón .
Way of life
The habitats of the Conover crested rat are shaped by the northern Gran Chaco in a dry and xerophytic shrub area at altitudes of about 2000 meters. Like all other crested rats, she lives on the ground and digs in the ground. It is a herbivorous species that uses underground tubers and roots. Colonies exist in areas with loose, not often flooded soils. It is found both in undisturbed habitats and in areas disturbed by livestock.
Systematics
The Conover comb rat is classified as an independent species in the genus of the comb rats ( Ctenomys ). This consists of about 70 species. The first scientific description of the species comes from the American zoologist Wilfred Hudson Osgood from 1946, who described it using an individual from the Paraguan Chaco near the city of Filadelfia . Osgood named the species after the American hobby ornithologist Henry Boardman Conover , who was active in Paraguay, among others.
The species was partially classified in its own subgenus Chacomys within the genus . Due to molecular biological characteristics, however, it is currently regarded as a sister species of the reddish comb rat ( Ctenomys frater ) and the Lewis comb rat ( Ctenomys lewisi ) and assigned to the frater group within the genus. Apart from the nominate form, no further subspecies are distinguished within the species .
Status, threat and protection
The conover crested rat is listed as not endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). It occurs comparatively regularly in its limited range. The population is probably falling slightly and comparatively adaptable to changes in habitat. There are currently no known threats to the existence of this species. It also occurs in the Parque Nacional Kaa-Iya del Gran Chaco National Park in Bolivia.
supporting documents
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Chacoan 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. 515. ISBN 978-84-941892-3-4 .
- ↑ a b c d Ctenomys steinbachi in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2018 Posted by: N. Roach, L. Naylor, 2016. Retrieved on 25 May of 2019.
- ^ "Conover" In: Bo Beolens, Michael Grayson, Michael Watkins: The Eponym Dictionary of Mammals. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009; P. 83; ISBN 978-0-8018-9304-9 .
- ↑ Andrés Parada, Guillermo D'Elía, Claudio J. Bidau, Enrique P. Lessa: Species groups and the evolutionary diversification of tuco-tucos, genus Ctenomys (Rodentia: Ctenomyidae). Journal of Mammalogy 92 (3), June 9, 2011; Pp. 671-682. doi : 10.1644 / 10-MAMM-A-121.1
literature
- Chacoan 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. 515. ISBN 978-84-941892-3-4 .