Black four-eyed pouch rat
| Black four-eyed pouch rat | ||||||||||||
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A dead young animal photographed in the Amacayacu National Park in Colombia |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Philander Andersoni | ||||||||||||
| Osgood , 1913 |
The black four-eye pouch rat ( Philander andersoni ), also known as Anderson's four-eye pouch rat , is a species of marsupial from the family of opossum rats (Didelphidae). It occurs in the rainforest in northwestern South America. The distribution area includes southeastern Colombia, southern Venezuela (states Bolívar and Amazonas ), western Brazil (states Amazonas and Acre ), as well as the areas east of the Andes in Ecuador and in the north and in the middle of Peru.
description
The black four-eyed rat reaches a head-torso length of 22.3 to 30.7 cm and a weight of 225 to 600 g. The tail becomes 25.5 to 33.2 cm long and thus reaches about 110% of the head-trunk length. The black four-eyed rat has a dark gray fur with a conspicuous, 3 to 4 cm wide stripe on its back that extends from the neck to the base of the tail. The cheeks and the spots over the eyes, characteristic of the Philander genus, are cream-colored. There is no color-contrasting stripe on the middle of the snout. The ears are light brown with a light cream colored spot at their base. The peritoneum is cream-colored or light gray. The feet are black. Overall the fur is dense, the hair is about 10 mm long. The 18% of the tail, which is close to the body, is hairy, the rest is naked. The last third of the tail is white. Females have a fully developed pouch with a total of seven teats, three each on the right and left and one in the middle. Both sexes can be differentiated by the shape of their head.
Way of life
The black four-eyed rat is a solitary, nocturnal rainforest inhabitant. In Colombia it is found up to an altitude of 500 m. It lives both on trees and on the ground. Their diet has not yet been researched. The breeding season extends from March to October. Females caught during this time had two to four pups in their pouches. The IUCN rates it as safe because it is widespread and common and also occurs in various protected areas.
Systematics
The black four-eye pouch rat is classified as an independent species in the four-eye pouch rats (genus Philander ). The first scientific description comes from Wilfred Hudson Osgood from 1913, who named it after the explorer and animal collector Malcolm Playfair Anderson .
supporting documents
- ↑ Bo Beolens, Michael Grayson, Michael Watkins: The Eponym Dictionary of Mammals. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009; P. 12; ISBN 978-0-8018-9304-9 .
literature
- Diego Astúa: Family Didelphidae (Opossums). Page 147 in Don E. Wilson & Russell A. Mittermeier : Handbook of the Mammals of the World: Monotremes and Marsupials: Volume 5. ISBN 978-84-96553-99-6 .