Udzungwa lamellar tooth rat
| Udzungwa lamellar tooth rat | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Otomys uzungwensis | ||||||||||||
| Lawrence & Loveridge , 1953 |
The Udzungwa lamellar tooth rat ( Otomys uzungwensis ) is a little researched rodent from the genus of the lamellar tooth rat ( Otomys ). It occurs in Tanzania , Malawi and Zambia .
features
The Udzungwa lamellar tooth rat reaches a head-trunk length of 15.5 to 19 cm, a tail length of 8 to 9 cm, a hind foot length of 2.5 to 2.6 cm and an ear length of 2.0 to 2.5 cm . It is a large, sturdy species with a large, blunt head, short tail, and shaggy fur that is pale reddish yellowish-brown on the top and gray on the underside. The two-tone, short tail makes up about 51 percent of the head-torso length. The upper incisors have a single furrow and the lower two deep furrows. The first molar has three lamellae and the third has seven lamellae.
distribution
The Udzungwa lamellar tooth rat occurs in the Udzungwa Mountains and in the Poroto Mountains in southern Tanzania, on the Nyika Plateau in Malawi and in neighboring Zambia.
Habitat and way of life
The Udzungwa lamellar tooth rat lives in montane grasslands at altitudes between 1,800 and 2,750 m. It is probably active during the day or at dusk and is likely to have a purely vegetarian diet. No further information is known about the way of life.
status
The Udzungwa lamellar tooth rat is currently not on the IUCN Red List. In 2006, she was (there in the "high risk" endangered ) listed.
Systematics
The Udzungwa lamellar tooth rat was described as a separate species by Barbara Lawrence and Arthur Loveridge in 1953 . In 1974 it was listed by Xavier Misonne as a synonym and in 1978 by William Frank Harding Ansell as a subspecies of the Ethiopian lamellar tooth rat ( Otomys typus ). Michael D. Carleton and Ellen Schaefer Byrne clarified the validity of this taxon in 2006 and raised it to species status again.
literature
- Peter J. Taylor, Leonid A. Lavrenchenko, Michael D. Carleton, Erik Verheyen, Nigel C. Bennett, Carel J. Oosthuizen, Sarita Maree: Specific limits and emerging diversity patterns in East African populations of laminate-toothed rats, genus Otomys ( Muridae: Murinae: Otomyini): Revision of the Otomys typus complex , Zootaxa 3024, 2011, pp. 1-66
- Christiane Denys , Peter John Taylor , Connor Burgin, Ken Aplin , Pierre-Henri Fabre, Rudolf Haslauer, John Woinarski, Bill Breed, James Menzies: Family Muridae (Old World Mice) In: Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 7: Rodents II, Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2017, ISBN 978-84-16728-04-6 , pp. 744-745
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Barbara Lawrence, Arthur Loveridge: Zoological Results of a Fifth Expedition to East Africa. I. Mammals from Nyasaland and Tete, with Notes on the Genus Otomys . Bulletin of The Museum of Comparative Zoology. 110 (1), 1953, pp. 61-63 ( [1] ).
- ^ Xavier Misonne: Part 6, Order Rodentia. In: Meester, J. & Setzer, HW (eds.), The mammals of Africa: an identification manual. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC, 1974
- ^ WFH Ansell: The mammals of Zambia. Chilanga, Zambia, The National Parks and Wildlife Service, 1978
- ↑ Michael D. Carleton, E. Schaefer Byrne: The status of Otomys orestes dollmani Heller, 1912 (Muridae: Otomyinae), a rodent described from the Mathews Range, central Kenya . Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 119 (4), 2006, pp. 477-515. hdl : 10088/1933