Paraguaná barbed pocket mouse

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Paraguaná barbed pocket mouse
Systematics
Superordinate : Euarchontoglires
Order : Rodents (Rodentia)
Superfamily : Pocket rodents (Geomyoidea)
Family : Pocket mice (Heteromyidae)
Genre : Barbed Pocket Mice ( Heteromys )
Type : Paraguaná barbed pocket mouse
Scientific name
Heteromys oasicus
RP Anderson , 2003

The Paraguaná spiny pocket mouse ( Heteromys oasicus ) is a type of sting heteromyidae . The species, first described in 2003, occurs only on the Paraguaná peninsula in northwestern Venezuela .

features

The Paraguaná barbed pocket mouse reaches a head-trunk length of 11.8 centimeters on average and a tail length of 11.9 centimeters on average. The average ear length is 17 millimeters and the average hind foot length is 29 millimeters. It is a small species of the genus, the males are generally slightly larger than the females. 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 very thin and, for the species, very pale brown with strong mottling due to ocher-colored hair. It passes into the white belly without a delimited sand-colored band on the sides of the body. The ears are comparatively large and pale brown.

The front areas of the soles of the large hind feet are bare. The tail is slightly hairy and clearly two-colored, the top is darker than the bottom. Compared to the Trinidad barbed pocket mouse ( Heteromys anomalus ), which is regarded as a sister species and also occurs on Paraguaná, the Paraguaná barbed pocket mouse is significantly smaller and paler in color, and it lacks the dark colors of the front legs that are typical of the Trinidad barbed pocket mouse .

distribution

Forest region at Cerro Santa Ana

The Paraguaná barbed pocket mouse is endemic to the Paraguaná peninsula in northwest Venezuela . The occurrence on the peninsula is limited to two isolated populations on Cerro Santa Ana and the Fila de Monte Cano around Monte Cano .

Way of life

Most of the known specimens of the species come from the rainforest area on Cerro Santa Ana from heights above 550 meters. On Monte Cano, the animals were caught in the area of ​​terrestrial bromeliad fields in a dry river bed of a seasonal river in a deciduous forest. The two populations are probably delimited from the populations of the Trinidad quarrying mouse by the dry thorn bushes that surround the foot of the mountains. The animals are generally nocturnal and live on the ground, otherwise no information is available about their way of life.

Systematics

The Paraguaná 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 of the species comes from Robert P. Anderson from 2003. He differentiated the species from the Trinidad barbed-pocket mouse ( Heteromys anomalus ), which also occurs on Paraguaná.

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

The scientific name or the epithet was Latinized derived from the Greek word "oasis" for an oasis , a fertile place in the middle of a desert, and refers to the range of the species in moderately humid areas within a dry ring in the two mountain regions of the peninsula.

Status, threat and protection

The Paraguaná barbed pocket mouse is classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) due to its very limited distribution area of ​​less than 22 square kilometers. The populations are also highly fragmented and the habitats are deforested for pasture use. In addition, there are infrastructure measures for tourism as well as mining activities on Monte Cano, which lead to habitat loss.

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Paraguana 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. 198. ISBN 978-84-941892-3-4 .
  2. ↑ a b c d Robert P. Anderson: Taxonomy, distribution, and natural history of the genus Heteromys (Rodentia, Heteromyidae) in western Venezuela, with the description of a dwarf species from the Península de Paraguaná. American Museum Novitates 3396, March 27, 2003; Pp. 1-43. ( Full text )
  3. ↑ Heteromys oasicus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2018 Posted by: L. Naylor, N. Roach, 2016. Retrieved on January 1st of 2019.

literature

  • Paraguana 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. 198. ISBN 978-84-941892-3-4 .
  • Robert P. Anderson: Taxonomy, distribution, and natural history of the genus Heteromys (Rodentia, Heteromyidae) in western Venezuela, with the description of a dwarf species from the Península de Paraguaná. American Museum Novitates 3396, March 27, 2003; Pp. 1-43. ( Full text )

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