Tumbala climbing rat

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Tumbala climbing rat
Systematics
Superfamily : Mice-like (Muroidea)
Family : Burrowers (Cricetidae)
Subfamily : Tylomyinae
Tribe : Tylomyini
Genre : Climbing rats ( Tylomys )
Type : Tumbala climbing rat
Scientific name
Tylomys tumbalensis
Merriam , 1901

The Tumbala climbing rat ( Tylomys tumbalensis ) is to tylomys belonging kind of New world and work closely with the Peters's climbing rat related. It is only known from a single site in the tropical forests of Chiapas and is classified as critically endangered.

anatomy

The total length of a young but fully grown specimen of the Tumbala climbing rat is 448 millimeters, the tail length 234 millimeters and the hind foot length 46 millimeters. The fur on the upper side is dark gray and becomes distinctly blackish towards the middle. The sides of the body are brownish and the underside is lead-colored and yellow-brown-washed out. The chin, chest, and part of the groin area are white and the toes are dark brown. The front half of the tail is blackish, the rear half is yellow.

The skull of the Tumbala climbing rat is large, long, and flattened. In contrast to the bare-tailed climbing rat , the upper row of molars measures more than 9.1 millimeters. In contrast to those of Tylomys bullaris, the tympanic sacs are not noticeably inflated and have a noticeable anterior bulge. According to Merriam (1901), the skull is less massive and slimmer than that of the bare-tailed climbing rat. The snout and the nasal bones are significantly slimmer, the tympanic bladders are slightly larger, the upper incisors are thinner and narrower and the molar teeth are by comparison very large and heavy with a length of 9.5 millimeters.

Distribution, habitat and existence

The distribution area of the Tumbala climbing rat is in Chiapas, Mexico, where the species is only known from one specimen from Tumbalá . Originally the find area was a tropical forest , but it has now been completely cut down except for very small pieces of original vegetation.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN classified Tylomys tumbalensis as critically endangered in 2008. This was justified with the limited occurrence and the likelihood of a strong population decline, caused by the complete disappearance of the original habitat due to the conversion into agricultural land. In 1996 the species was also classified as critically endangered. In Mexico it is protected by law (NOM-059_ECOL-2001).

Systematics and nomenclature

The Tumbala climbing rat is commonly used as standalone type out, but could of Peters's climbing rat as a subspecies be assigned. The type specimen comes from Tumbalá at an altitude of 1700 meters and was described by Clinton Hart Merriam as Tylomys tumbalensis in 1901 .

literature

  • Sergio Ticul Álvarez-Castañeda, Ivan Castro-Arellano: Tylomys tumbalensis . In: IUCN 2011 (Ed.): IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2 . 2008.
  • E. Raymond Hall: The Mammals of North America. Volume 2. 2nd edition. John Wiley & Sons, New York NY et al. 1981, ISBN 0-471-05444-5 .
  • Fiona A. Reid: A Field Guide to the Mammals of Central America & Southeast Mexico . 2nd Edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford et al. 2009, ISBN 978-0-19-534322-9 .

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b c d e Hall, 1981 (p. 628)
  2. ^ Hall, 1981 (p. 627)
  3. ↑ a b Reid, 2009 (p. 222)
  4. ↑ a b Álvarez-Castañeda and Castro-Arellano, 2008 ( Tylomys tumbalensis )

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