Zuniga's Dark Rice Rat

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Zuniga's Dark Rice Rat
Systematics
Family : Burrowers (Cricetidae)
Subfamily : Sigmodontinae
Oryzomyalia
Tribe : Oryzomyini
Genre : Dark rice rats ( Melanomys )
Type : Zuniga's Dark Rice Rat
Scientific name
Melanomys zuigae
Sanborn , 1949

Zuniga's dark rice rat ( Melanomys Zunigae ) is an extremely rare or already extinct rodent from the genus of the dark rice rats ( Melanomys ). It comes or came in the Lima Province in Peru before. It is named after the Peruvian zoologist Enrique Zuñiga , who collected the type specimens in 1942.

features

The total length is 206 to 241 mm, the tail length 81 to 105 mm and the hind foot length 23 to 28 mm. The tail is significantly shorter than the head and trunk. The back is gray-brown, lighter on the sides and the individual hairs either have a dark base and a brown tip or are completely gray-black from base to tip. The belly is brown with gray hair shimmering through it. The feet and tail are brown.

status

In 1942 the Peruvian zoologist Enrique Zuñiga caught eight specimens of this rice rat species in the Lomas de Atocongo and on Cerro San Jerónimo at a height of 600 to 800 m, which Colin Campbell Sanborn used in 1949 as type material for the first scientific description. After sporadic expeditions, an intensive search was carried out between July 2005 and October 2006, but no more specimens could be found. There is also an unconfirmed report from 1990 by the Lomas de Lachay . In 1996 this taxon was included in the “ Least Concern” category in the IUCN's Red List of Endangered Species. In 2008 this status was changed to “threatened with extinction” with the addition “possibly extinct” ( critically endangered (possibly extinct) ), as there has been no reliable evidence since 1949. The terra typica on the Lomas de Atocongo and Cerro San Jerónimo, two mountain regions near the Peruvian capital Lima, has been badly affected by overgrazing by goats and mining activities. The very specific habitat of this species has been almost completely changed by human activity.

literature

  • John Frederick Eisenberg, Kent Hubbard Redford: Mammals of the Neotropics. Volume 3: The Central Neotropics. Ecuador, Bolivia, Brazil. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago IL et al. 1999, ISBN 0-226-19542-2 , p. 383.
  • Victor Pacheco: Mamíferos del Perú. In: Gerardo Ceballos, Javier Simonetti (eds.): Diversidad y Conservación de los mamíferos neotropicales. CONABIO - Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico DF 2002, ISBN 970-9000-18-7 , pp. 503-549, online (PDF; 807 KB) ( Memento of July 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ).
  • Guy G. Musser , Michael D. Carleton : Superfamily Muroidea. In: Don E. Wilson , DeeAnn M. Reeder (Eds.): Mammal Species of the World. A taxonomic and geographic Reference. Volume 2. 3rd edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 , pp. 894-1531.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Colin C. Sanborn: A new species of rice rat (Oryzomys) from the coast of Perú. In: Publicaciones del Museo de Historia Natural “Javier Prado”. Series A: Zoología. Vol. 3, 1949, ZDB -ID 920009-5 , pp. 1-4.
  2. ^ E. Zuñiga: Observaciones ecológicas sobre los mamíferos de las lomas. In: Boletín del Museo de Historia Natural “Javier Prado”. No. 22/23, 1942, ZDB -ID 405707-7 , pp. 392-399.
  3. ↑ José Luis Mena, Martha Williams, Carla Gazzolo, Francesca Montero: Estado de conservación de Melanomys Zunigae (Sanborn 1949) y de los mamíferos pequeños en las Lomas de Lima. In: Revista Peruana de Biología. Vol. 14, No. 2, 2007, ISSN  1727-9933 , pp. 201-207, online (PDF; 715 KB) .
  4. ↑ Martha Williams: Notas sobre reproducción de Phyllotis amicus Thomas (Rodentia: Cricetidae) en el campo y laboratorio. In: Biota (Lima). Vol. 14, No. 96, 1990, ISSN  0006-3584 , pp. 9-17.
  5. ↑ Melanomys zunigae in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2012. Posted by: Zeballos, H. & Vivar, E., 2008. Accessed May 25, 2013.

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