Short-haired Atlantic tree rat
| Short-haired Atlantic tree rat | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Phyllomys unicolor | ||||||||||||
| ( Wagner , 1842) |
The short-haired Atlantic tree rat ( Phyllomys unicolor ) is a very rare rodent in the genus of the Atlantic tree rats within the family of the barbed rats , which occurs in eastern Brazil .
discovery
Only one specimen of this species is known (as of 2016), which was collected at the beginning of the 1820s by Georg Wilhelm Freyreiss in what is now the state of Bahia in Brazil. The bellows and skull were added to the Senckenberg Zoological Collection in Europe in 1824. Eduard Rüppell gave the specimen the provisional name Loncheres unicolor in a collection catalog in 1842 . Johann Andreas Wagner took over this in the same year for the first scientific description. Loncheres is a synonym of the genus Phyllomys . The region around the site near the Atlantic is now mainly covered with evergreen forests.
features
The short-haired Atlantic tree rat is a large member of the genus with a head body length of 28.0 cm and a tail length of 20.2 cm. It has about 4 cm long hind feet and 1.6 cm long ears. There is short, bristly fur on the upper side, but real spines are absent. The coat color is uniformly red-brown on the top and the transition to the lighter and less reddish underside is gradual. In addition, the hair is less bristly underneath. Furthermore, the tail is covered by short fur, so that the scales below are covered. At the tip of the tail there is a tassel , which was probably darker in the living specimen.
The head is characterized by almost bare ears and wide and orange upper incisors. The medium-length vibrissae reach the lower neck as far as they are bent backwards. Differing details of the skull distinguish the species from the long-haired Atlantic tree rat ( Phyllomys medius ), whose range begins about 600 km further south.
status
Since only one individual has been found so far, the population size of this species is unknown. Deforestation is likely to have a negative impact. The IUCN lists the short-haired Atlantic tree rat as Critically Endangered .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Don E. Wilson , DeeAnn M. Reeder (Ed.): Mammal Species of the World . A taxonomic and geographic Reference . 3. Edition. 2 volumes. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 (English, Phyllomys unicolor ).
- ↑ a b c Louise H. Emmons et al .: A review of the named forms of Phyllomys . (PDF) In: American Museum Novitates . No. 3380, 2002, p. 40 pp.
- ↑ a b Phyllomys unicolor in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2017. Posted by: Loss, C. & Leite, Y., 2016. Accessed November 25, 2018th