La Pera climbing rat
| La Pera climbing rat | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Ototylomys chiapensis | ||||||||||||
| Porter et al., 2017 |
The La Pera climbing rat ( Ototylomys chiapensis ) is a little researched rodent species from the burrower family (Cricetidae). It is endemic to the Mexican state of Chiapas , where it is only known from the El Ocote Biosphere Reserve and La reserva natural de La Pera in the municipality of Berriozábal .
features
The La Pera climbing rat reaches a head-trunk length of 130 to 194 mm, a tail length of 135 to 174 mm, an ear length of 20 to 27 mm, a hind foot length of 30 to 34 mm and a weight of 55 to 165 g . The La Pera climbing rat is slightly larger than the big-eared climbing rat ( Ototylomys phyllotes ). The brown fur on the back has irregular and indistinct, rust-red spots in the middle. The light brown marbled breast fur has white spots on the breast and groin regions. The long, scaly tail is hairless, as are the broad, oval, translucent ears. The hind feet are long. The chromosome set is 2n = 48, F = 84 with 19 pairs of two-armed chromosomes and four acrocentric chromosome pairs.
Habitat and way of life
The La Pera climbing rat lives in montane karst rainforests at altitudes of 700 to 1100 m. Field observations of this kind are not known. The specimens kept in human care ate sunflower seeds but hardly consumed any fruit. Two females that were collected in July and August 1980 and marked as paratypes were pregnant and gave birth to a young each in August 1980. In contrast , a female specimen that was kept in human care for five days in December 1980, which was identified as a holotype , showed no signs of reproduction.
Systematics
The La Pera climbing rat was discovered in 1980 and described in November 2017 as the second species of the genus Ototylomys , which has been considered monotypical since 1901 . Due to the strong morphological differences to the big-eared climbing rat, this taxon could also represent an independent genus.
Hazard and protection
The La Pera climbing rat is currently not on the IUCN Red List . Based on the small area of distribution and the possible reduction of the habitat in terms of size and quality, the first descriptors recommend a classification in the category “ critically endangered ”.
literature
- Calvin A. Porter, Nia E. Beasley, Nicté Ordóñez-Garza, Laramie L. Lindsey, Duke S. Rogers, Nicole Lewis-Rogers, Jack W. Sites, Jr. and Robert D. Bradley. 2017. A New Species of Big-eared Climbing Rat, Genus Ototylomys (Cricetidae: Tylomyinae), from Chiapas, Mexico. Journal of Mammalogy. 98 (5); 1310-1329. doi : 10.1093 / jmammal / gyx096
- Ulyses FJ Pardiñas , Dennisse Ruelas, Jorge Brito, Lisa Bradley, Robert Bradley, Nicté Ordóñez Garza, Boris Kryštufek , Joseph Cook, Erika Cuéllar Soto, Jorge Salazar-Bravo, Gregory Shenbrot , Elisandra Chiquito, Alexandre Percequillo, Joyce Prado, Rudolf Jim Patton , Livia León-Paniagua: Family Cricetidae (True Hamsters, Voles, Lemmings and New World Rats and Mice) In: Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 7: Rodents II, Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2017, ISBN 978-84-16728-04-6 , p. 533