Ecuador barbed pocket mouse

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Ecuador barbed pocket mouse
Systematics
Superordinate : Euarchontoglires
Order : Rodents (Rodentia)
Superfamily : Pocket rodents (Geomyoidea)
Family : Pocket mice (Heteromyidae)
Genre : Barbed Pocket Mice ( Heteromys )
Type : Ecuador barbed pocket mouse
Scientific name
Heteromys teleus
RP Anderson & Jarrín-Valladares , 2002

The Ecuador pocket mouse ( Heteromys teleus ) is a species of pocket mouse whose range is limited to the western foothills of the Andes in central to western Ecuador .

features

The Ecuador quill pocket mouse reaches an average head-trunk length of 13.5 centimeters and a tail length of 14.6 centimeters on average. The average ear length is 17 millimeters and the average hind foot length is 38 millimeters. It is therefore a medium-sized species of the genus without any noticeable differences in size between the sexes. The fur of the adult animals is coarse and contains individual stiffened, spiky hairs on the back and on the sides of the body. The back fur is dark gray to black and merges into the white belly without a delimited band on the sides of the body. The ears are comparatively small and black.

The front areas of the soles of the large hind feet are bare. The tail is slightly hairy and indistinctly two-tone, the top is a little darker than the bottom. Outwardly, the Ecuador barbed pocket mouse can hardly be distinguished from the southern barbed pocket mouse ( Heteromys australis ), which can be found in the north of Ecuador . She is slightly larger and the skull is slightly narrower than this one, and her hind feet are significantly larger.

distribution

The range of the Ecuador quill vole is limited to the western foothills of the Andes in central to western Ecuador . It occurs there from the Río Esmeraldas and Río Guayllabamba to the Cordillera de Chongón-Colonche in the southernmost area of ​​the lowland areas known as Chocó west of the Andes. The altitude distribution ranges from sea level to altitudes of around 2000 meters.

Way of life

The Ecuador quill pocket mouse lives in drier rain and cloud forest areas in its range. The annual amount of precipitation in the lowlands is more than 3000 millimeters of precipitation, in the higher areas 2000 to 3000 millimeters, whereby the humidity here is increased by the fog influenced by the Pacific. The animals are generally nocturnal and live on the ground, but can also come out of their hiding places during the day and are able to climb. Otherwise, little information is available about their way of life.

Systematics

The Ecuadorian pocket mouse is classified as an independent species within the genus of the pocket mouse ( Heteromys ), which consists of 16 species. The first scientific description comes from Robert P. Anderson and Pablo Jarrín-Valladares from the year 2002. They delimited the species from the southern barbed mouse ( Heteromys australis ), which up to this point was considered the only species of the genus in the region.

Apart from the nominate form, no further subspecies are distinguished within the species .

Status, threat and protection

The Ecuador quill mouse is classified as endangered (vulnerable) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). This is justified by the limited range of the species.

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Ecuadorean Spiny Pocket Mouse. In: David J. Hafner: Subfamily Heteromyoninae, Genus Heteromys. In: Don E. Wilson, TE Lacher, Jr., Russell A. Mittermeier (editors): Handbook of the Mammals of the World: Lagomorphs and Rodents 1. (HMW, Volume 6) Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2016, p. 199. ISBN 978-84-941892-3-4 .
  2. ↑ a b c d Robert P. Anderson, Pablo Jarrín-Valladares: A New Species of Spiny Pocket Mouse (Heteromyidae: Heteromys) Endemic to Western Ecuador. American Museum Novitates 3382, Aug. 16, 2002; Pp. 1-26. ( Full text )
  3. ↑ Heteromys teleus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2018 Posted by: L. Naylor, N. Roach, 2016. Accessed December 29, 2018th

literature

  • Ecuadorean Spiny Pocket Mouse. In: David J. Hafner: Subfamily Heteromyoninae, Genus Heteromys. In: Don E. Wilson, TE Lacher, Jr., Russell A. Mittermeier (editors): Handbook of the Mammals of the World: Lagomorphs and Rodents 1. (HMW, Volume 6) Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2016, p. 199. ISBN 978-84-941892-3-4 .
  • Robert P. Anderson, Pablo Jarrín-Valladares: A New Species of Spiny Pocket Mouse (Heteromyidae: Heteromys) Endemic to Western Ecuador. American Museum Novitates 3382, Aug. 16, 2002; Pp. 1-26. ( Full text )

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