Coronados bush rat

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Coronados bush rat
Systematics
Family : Burrowers (Cricetidae)
Subfamily : Neotominae
Tribe : Neotomini
Genre : American bush rats ( Neotoma )
Type : Bryant bush rat ( Neotoma bryanti )
Subspecies : Coronados bush rat
Scientific name
Neotoma bryanti bunkeri
Burt , 1932

The Coronados bush rat ( Neotoma bryanti bunkeri ) is an extinct subspecies of the Bryant bush rat ( Neotoma bryanti ) that was endemic to the island of Isla Coronados in the Gulf of California . The taxon is named after the zoologist Charles Dean Bunker (1870-1948), the former curator for birds and mammals at the University of Kansas Natural History Museum.

description

The Coronados bush rat reached a length of 390 mm, a tail length of 168 mm, a hind foot length of 43 mm and an ear length of 32 mm. The hair on top was dark gray with black tips. The underside was a deep mousy gray and washed white. The tail was brownish on top and white on the underside. The soles of the hind feet were bare on the heels.

habitat

The nests, poorly built from stalks of ironwood , were between lava rocks and next to cacti.

status

In December 1931, the taxon was discovered by the zoologist William Henry Burt . Burt collected ten specimens that are now in the collection of the California Institute of Technology as specimens . The species was last detected in 1932. Between 1991 and 1999 there were intensive searches on Islas Coronado, but they were unsuccessful. Cats are believed to be the cause of extinction, brought to the island by fishermen to control the bush rats and mice. On the other hand, the vegetation that served the bush rats as food and with which they built their buildings was used as fuel for campfires.

literature

  • Felisa A. Smith, Brandon T. Bestelmeyer, James Biardi, Michael Strong: Anthropogenic Extinction of the Endemic Woodrat, Neotoma bunkeri Burt. In: Biodiversity Letters. Vol. 1, No. 5, September 1993, ISSN  0967-9952 , pp. 149-155.
  • William Henry Burt : Descriptions of Heretofore Unknown Mammals from Islands in the Gulf of California, Mexico. In: Transactions of the San Diego Society of Natural History. Vol. 7, 1931/1934, ISSN  0080-5947 , pp. 161-182, here p. 181 (published October 31, 1932).

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