Derby wool pouch rat
| Derby wool pouch rat | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Derby woolly rat ( Caluromys derbianus ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Caluromys derbianus | ||||||||||||
| ( Waterhouse , 1841) |
The Derby wool rat ( Caluromys derbianus ), also known as the Central American wool rat , is common from southern Mexico to Ecuador.
features
The animals reach a total length of 60 to 70 cm and a weight of 200 to 400 grams. The tail makes up 58 to 67% of this length. The animals are slender and gray to red-brown in color, depending on the distribution, the belly is white to yellowish. The ears are cream-colored to pink, the forelegs and feet are light-colored. Usually the animals have a central dark stripe on the head and a gray center line between the shoulders. The 40 to 50% of the tail, which is close to the body, is hairy on top, the rest is bare. The tail is used for balancing when climbing and the hairless part can be used as a grasping tail. The canines are long and slender, the first upper premolar is very small. The first toe is opposable .
Way of life
The Derby wool rat is nocturnal, solitary and occurs in moist, tropical primary and secondary forests up to an altitude of 2500 meters. It is strictly arboreal (tree dwelling), probably rests in tree hollows where it builds nests of leaves, and very rarely comes to the ground. The animals feed mainly on fruits, flowers, nectar, insects and small vertebrates are also eaten. The front paws are used to help with food intake and after eating they are cleaned intensively by licking. Females get 2 to 4 young animals per litter.
Subspecies
There are seven subspecies:
- Caluromys derbianus derbianus , in Panama and in Colombia and Ecuador west of the Andes.
- Caluromys derbianus aztecus , southern, Caribbean Mexico
- Caluromys derbianus canutus , Caribbean side of Nicaragua and Costa Rica
- Caluromys derbianus centralis , lives in a small area on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica and Panama
- Caluromys derbianus fervidus , Caribbean side of Guatemala and Honduras
- Caluromys derbianus nauticus , Gobernadora Island off the Pacific coast of Panama
- Caluromys derbianus pallidus , Pacific side of Nicaragua and Costa Rica
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b J.E. Bucher, S. Hoffmann: Caluromys derbianus Archived from the original on March 15, 2016. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Mammalian Species . 140, No. 1-4, 1980.
- ^ Alfred L. Gardner (Ed.): Mammals of South America, Volume 1: Marsupials, Xenarthrans, Shrews, and Bats . The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 2015; ISBN 978-0-226-28240-4
