Owl barbed rat
| Owl barbed rat | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the subfamily | ||||||||||||
| Carterodontinae | ||||||||||||
| Courcelle, Tilak, Leite, Douzery, Fabre, 2019 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Carterodon | ||||||||||||
| Waterhouse , 1848 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Carterodon sulcidens | ||||||||||||
| ( Lund , 1841) |
The owl spiny rat ( Carterodon sulcidens ) is a rodent that occurs in southern areas of the Brazilian savannah landscape, Cerrado . The species forms the monotypical genus Carterodon .
The species was scientifically described in 1841 using semi-fossil remains that came from the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais . The skeletal parts were found in the ridges of the barn owl ( Tyto alba ). Ten years later, specimens living in the same area could be caught. The owl barbed rat is generally considered to be rare.
features
With a head-torso length of 15.5 to 20.0 cm (according to Patton et al. 13.5 to 25 cm) and a tail length of 6.8 to 8.0 cm, the species is one of the small to medium-sized spiny rats . The weight varies between 92 and 195 g. As the German trivial name suggests, the fur on the top consists of soft hair and several bristles or flexible spines that have a soft tip. The owl spiked rat has yellow-brown fur with black shades on its back, while the sides of the body are more gray. On the belly, the fur becomes lighter to white from the yellow-red sides towards the middle. Reddish spots also appear on the sides of the neck and on the throat. The owl spiny rat has a hairy tail with a black top and a yellowish underside. It has grooves on the upper incisors .
The arms and legs of the owl spiny rat are short, with powerful claws on their fingers and toes. There are scales under the hair of the tail.
Way of life
Information on the species' way of life is limited. In the Cerrado savannah landscape, the owl spiny rat prefers open areas with isolated bushes or trees, between gallery forests and pure grass areas. It digs up to 80 cm long tunnels with a diameter of 7 to 10 cm, which end in a chamber with about twice the diameter. The quill rat pads the chamber with grass and leaves.
The individuals rest during the day and only come to the surface of the earth in the evening or at night. Investigations found a pulp in the stomach of the owl spiked rat, which was interpreted as plant remains. A captured female was pregnant with one embryo .
status
Due to its rarity, the owl spiny rat is listed with "insufficient data" ( data deficient ). The creation of new arable land is a potential danger. In the western part of its range, it occurs in the Chapada dos Guimarães National Park .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Maxime Courcelle, Marie-ka Tilak, Yuri LR Leite, Emmanuel JP Douzery, Pierre-Henri Fabre: Digging for the spiny rat and hutia phylogeny using a gene capture approach, with the description of a new mammal subfamily. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, March, 2019, doi: 10.1016 / j.ympev.2019.03.007
- ↑ 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, Carterodon ).
- ↑ a b c d e Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. Volume 2. 6th edition. 1999, pp. 1692-1693, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 .
- ↑ a b c d Carterodon sulcidens in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: Rice, M. & Lacher, T., 2008. Accessed July 2 2016th
- ↑ a b c James L. Patton, Ulyses FJ Pardiñas, Guillermo D'Elía: Mammals of South America, Volume 2: Rodents. University of Chicago Press, 2015; P. 933 ff. ( Google Books )
Web links
- Illustration on Animal Diversity Web