Prickly rice rats
| Prickly rice rats | ||||||||||||
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| Thomas , 1900 |
The prickly rice rats ( Neacomys ) are a species of rodent living in South America from the group of New World mice . They include around a dozen species.
Spiny rice rats are relatively small New World mice, they reach a head body length of 6 to 10 centimeters, the tail is about as long. Weight is only known from N. guianae , the species weighs around 20 grams. The coat is made up of a mixture of bristly, spiky hair and soft hair. The spiky hair is common on the back, rarer on the flanks and completely absent on the belly. The coat color varies from reddish brown to light brown, the belly is lighter, mostly whitish.
Prickly rice rats live in Panama and in South America to central Brazil and Bolivia . They live predominantly in forests, sometimes they can also be found in bushland and even near fields.
Systematics of the prickly rice rats
There are around a dozen species, about half of which have only recently been described .
- Neacomys amoenus lives in an area from eastern Peru through central Brazil to Bolivia .
- The Dubost prickly rice rat ( Neacomys dubosti ) was not described until 2001. The species lives in East Suriname , French Guiana and Northeast Brazil ( Amapá ).
- The Guyana prickly rice rat ( Neacomys guianae ) is native to Venezuela , the three Guiana states and northern Brazil.
- Neacomys macedoruizi occurs in central Peru.
- As far as we know today, the small spiny rice rat ( Neacomys minutus ) occurs only in the area of the Juruá River in western Brazil. The species was not described until 2000.
- The musser rice rat ( Neacomys musseri ) was also first described in 2000. She also lives on the Juruá in southeastern Peru and western Brazil.
- The Paracou rice rat ( Neacomys paracou ) is common in Venezuela, the three Guiana states and northeastern Brazil. The species was first described in 2001.
- The colorful prickly rice rat ( Neacomys pictus ) is only known from eastern Panama.
- Neacomys rosalindae lives in northeastern Peru.
- The bristle rice rat ( Neacomys spinosus ) lives in the Peruvian mountainous country.
- The narrow-footed rice rat ( Neacomys tenuipes ) is native to Colombia and Venezuela.
- Neacomys vargasllosai is distributed from southern Peru to southern Bolivia.
According to the IUCN , none of the species is endangered, but the most recently discovered species are not yet listed.
Barbed rice rats are very similar to the dwarf rice rats ( Oligoryzomys ) except for the spines , but according to genetic studies they are more closely related to the small rice rats ( Microryzomys ).
literature
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. 2 volumes. 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD et al. 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 .
- Don E. Wilson , DeeAnn M. Reeder (Eds.): Mammal Species of the World. A taxonomic and geographic Reference. 2 volumes. 3. Edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 .
supporting documents
- ↑ a b Natali Hurtado and Víctor Pacheco: Revision of Neacomys spinosus (Thomas, 1882) (Rodentia: Cricetidae) with emphasis on Peruvian populations and the description of a new species. Zootaxa. 4242 (3), 2017; 401-440
- ↑ a b Pamela Sánchez-Vendizú, Víctor Pacheco and Dan Vivas-Ruiz. 2018. An Introduction to the Systematics of Small-Bodied Neacomys (Rodentia: Cricetidae) from Peru with Descriptions of Two New Species. American Museum Novitates. 3913; 1-38. DOI: 10.1206 / 3913.1 digitallibrary.amnh.org/handle/2246/6917
Web links
- Endangerment level of the individual species in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species .