Rabbit rats

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rabbit rats
Reithrodon auritus

Reithrodon auritus

Systematics
Superfamily : Mice-like (Muroidea)
Family : Burrowers (Cricetidae)
Subfamily : Sigmodontinae
Oryzomyalia
Tribe : Reithrodontini
Genre : Rabbit rats
Scientific name
Reithrodon
Waterhouse , 1837

The rabbit rats ( Reithrodon ) are a species of rodent living in South America from the group of the New World mice . They are of two types.

These animals reach a head body length of 13 to 20 centimeters and a tail length of 9 to 11 centimeters. The weight, as far as known, is 80 to 100 grams. The fur is gray-brown on top, the belly is white or light gray. The tail is relatively short, the ears are large and slightly tilted back.

Rabbit rats inhabit southern South America, they live in southern Brazil , Uruguay , Argentina and Chile . Their habitat is grasslands like the pampas , but also sandy coastlines and fields.

They are good at digging and building underground burrows, and sometimes they take over those of armadillos or other animals. These burrows extend up to 2 meters and have chambers with a diameter of up to 30 centimeters in which a nest is built from grass. They can live solitary as well as in groups. Rabbit rats are believed to be nocturnal and feed on grasses, roots and tubers.

In some places the populations have declined because of intensive agricultural use or because of competition from introduced hares , but overall the animals (the IUCN combines both species) are not endangered.

A distinction is made between two types, which are sometimes combined into one type:

  • Reithrodon auritus occurs in almost all of Argentina and the neighboring regions of Chile, including the island of Tierra del Fuego.
  • Reithrodon typicus lives in the extreme south of Brazil, in Uruguay and eastern Argentina.

The rabbit rats form together with the Patagonian chinchilla mice and the Andean swamp rat the tribe of the Reithrodontini within the Sigmodontinae .

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 .

Web links