Veloz-Zaguti

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Veloz-Zaguti
Systematics
Subordination : Porcupine relatives (Hystricomorpha)
without rank: Guinea Pig Relatives (Caviomorpha)
Family : Quill rats (Echimyidae)
Subfamily : Tree rats (Capromyinae)
Genre : Zagutis ( Plagiodontia )
Type : Veloz-Zaguti
Scientific name
Plagiodontia ipnaeum
Johnson , 1948

The Veloz Zaguti ( Plagiodontia ipnaeum ), also known as the Veloz piglet rat , Veloz Huitia or Johnson piglet rat , is an extinct rodent from the genus Zagutis ( Plagiodontia ) in the family of the spiny rats (Echimyidae). It is only known from subfossil material discovered in Køkkenmøddinger in the Dominican Republic and Haiti . The forms Plagiodontia velozi and Plagiodontia caletensis described by Renato Rimoli in 1976 are identical to Plagiodontia ipnaeum .

features

Judging by the skull, the veloz zaguti was the largest known species of zagutis. It probably weighed over 5 kg. The limbs were longer and the molar crowns were higher than those of the other Zaguti species. The holotype located in the United States National Museum was collected in 1928 by the archaeologist Herbert William Krieger (1889-1970) in the deposits of a Køkkenmøddinger in the village of Ciguayan at Anadel 2 km east of Samaná in the Dominican Republic. It consists of the middle part of a skull that is missing most of the rostrum and brain skull . The skull of the type specimen is tall and larger than any skull of the other species in the genus Plagiodontia . The palatine bone is narrowed towards the front. The palatal pits are opposite the center of the first molar . The upper rows of teeth are close together towards the front. They diverge towards the back. The molars become progressively smaller from the fourth premolar and the third molar, with the greatest difference between the fourth premolar and the first molar. The lower jaw is more massive than that of the other species in the genus. The angular process of the lower jaw is greatly expanded horizontally.

By the time the species was described in 1948, 134 skull, lower jaw and tooth fragments had been discovered in the deposits of caves and Køkkenmøddinger. The sites are among others at Anadel , Dominican Republic ( terra typica ), at the mouth of the Río San Juan, 10 km north of Samaná , Dominican Republic, in the province of Monte Cristi in the northeastern Dominican Republic, near Constanza in the west of the province La Vega , Dominican Republic, near San Pedro de Macorís , Dominican Republic and in a cave near the Atalaye plantation near Saint-Michel-de-l'Atalaye in Haiti.

die out

The species is on the IUCN "extinct" in the category ( extinct listings). However, the exact date of extinction is unknown. Since the subfossil remains of rats were often found in the deposits, an extinction due to the European settlement of Hispaniola in the 17th century is suspected. Overhunting and stalking by rats are believed to be the main cause. The historian Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo , who lived in Hispaniola from 1536 to 1546, mentioned a rodent called "Quemi" in his work Historia General y Natural de las Indias y Tierra-Firme del Mar Oceono . It is possible that this species was identical to the Veloz-Zaguti. There is also the remote possibility that an animal known as "Comadreja", which is said to have survived into the 20th century, also represents this species.

literature

  • David H. Johnson: A rediscovered Haitian rodent, Plagiodontia aedium, with a synopsis of related species. In: Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. Vol. 61, 1948, ISSN  0006-324X , pp. 69-74, here pp. 72-73, online .
  • Renato O. Rímoli: Roedores fósiles de la Hispaniola (= Universidad Central del Este. Series científica. Vol. 3, ZDB -ID 11871-0 ). Universidad Central del Este, San Pedro de Macorís 1976.
  • Charles A. Woods: Endemic Rodents of the West Indies: The end of splendid isolation. In: William Z. Lidicker, Jr. (Ed.): Rodents. A world survey of species of conservation concern. Based on the proceedings of a workshop of the IUCN / SSC Rodent Specialist Group held at the Fourth International Theriological Congress, August 17, 1985, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (= Occasional Papers of the IUCN Species Survival Commission. No. 4). IUCN, Gland 1989, ISBN 2-88032-971-X , pp. 11-19.
  • Charles A. Woods, William Kilpatrick: Infraorder Hystricognathi. In: 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 , pp. 1538-1599.

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