Cryptonanus
| Cryptonanus | ||||||||||||
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Ceara rat ( Cryptonanus agricolai ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Cryptonanus | ||||||||||||
| Voss et al., 2005 |
Cryptonanus is a newly described in 2005 genus from the family of opossums (Didelphidae). It isnative tocentral and southern South America (from central Brazil and Bolivia to Argentina ).
description
These animals are mouse-like marsupials that do not have a pouch. Their fur is gray or brown on the upper side, the underside is lighter, often whitish. Like all smaller opossum rats, they have large eyes, pointed snouts, and large ears.
habitat
These animals are likely to be ground dwellers to a greater extent than other small opossum rats and live in grasslands, but little is known about their way of life.
Systematics
The genus was first described in 2005 by Robert S. Voss , Darrin P. Lunde and Sharon Jansa . Outwardly they resemble the opossum of the genus Gracilinanus , but differ in details of the skull structure and teeth. The separation is not yet generally recognized.
Voss distinguishes between five species, which may only represent geographical variants of a single species:
- Ceara rat ( Cryptonanus agricolai ) (Eastern Brazil )
- Chaco rat ( Cryptonanus chacoensis ) ( Bolivia , Paraguay , northern Argentina )
- Guahiba pygmy pouch rat ( Cryptonanus guahybae ) (Southeastern Brazil)
literature
- Voss, RS, Lunde, DP & Jansa, SA 2005. On the Contents of Gracilinanus Gardner & Creighton, 1989, with the Description of a Previously Unrecognized Clade of Small Didelphid Marsupials. American Museum Novitates 3482: 1-34. PDF here ( Memento from March 15, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 1.5 MB).
