For Asian bamboo rats (family: Spalacidae), see Bamboo rat.
Amazon bamboo rat | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Rodentia |
Family: | Echimyidae |
Tribe: | Echimyini |
Genus: | Dactylomys |
Species: | D. dactylinus |
Binomial name | |
Dactylomys dactylinus (Desmarest, 1817) | |
Subspecies | |
D. d. canescens(Thomas, 1912) |
The Amazon bamboo rat (Dactylomys dactylinus) is a species of spiny rat from the Amazon Basin of South America. [2] [3] It is also referred to as coro-coro, Toró, Rato-do-Bambú, or Rata del Bambú in different parts of its range. [4] The bamboo rat prefers to reside in areas of dense vegetation, such as clumps of bamboo or in the canopy. [5] It is an arboreal browser, consuming primarily leaves and spending much of its time off the ground. Because the Amazon bamboo rat spends most of its time in heavily forested areas, it is difficult to observe, and not much is known about its habits.
The Amazon bamboo rat has a body length of over 60 centimetres (24 in) from the nose to the tip of the tail, [6] and weighs approximately 600–750 grams (21–26 oz). [5] The rat has a stout appearance, olive-grey fur streaked with black, and a tail with short, fine hairs. [6] It has elongated digits, which are an adaptation for the rat's frequent need to climb, hence the species name: dactylinus derives from the ancient greek word δάκτυλος (dáktulos), meaning "finger". [7] [8] [5] Its paws are covered with hundreds of bumps called tubercles to aid in climbing. [5] Despite being nocturnal, the Amazon bamboo rat has weak eyeshine. [5] The bamboo rat may benefit from weak eyeshine because it makes the rat more difficult to detect in the canopy, and because the rat moves so slowly that it does not require as much light. It has horizontally slit pupils, similar to those of a goat, to aid in its occasional diurnal activity. [5] Like other arboreal browsers, the Amazon bamboo rat has scent glands which it uses to mark its territory. [5]
Due to the restricted diet of arboreal folivores, many of them move slowly to avoid wasting energy. The Amazon bamboo rat's slow and cautious manner of climbing has the added effect of making its movements completely silent, helping to protect it from predators. [5] Because the rat moves so slowly, its displacement may only reach 62 meters (about 203 feet) in a single night. [5] If a bamboo rat is quietly approached, it will back away slowly and silently; however, the rat is capable of disappearing swiftly into the foliage if necessary. [5] This behavior allows the rodent to minimize its energy usage.
The Amazon bamboo rat is a small folivore. It consumes only plants that are easily digested, in order to conserve energy. [5] The bamboo rat primarily consumes young leaves, stems, and petioles. [5] Because of its limited diet of bamboo and local vines, it is more abundant in regions of Latin America where its preferred food sources are plentiful.
The Amazon bamboo rat is nocturnal, emitting its shrill cry throughout the night to communicate its presence to other bamboo rats. The bamboo rat's call consists of several explosive, low frequency pulses, as well as grunts of low amplitude, [5] which may indicate alarm or serve to communicate with other rats. [9] The Amazon bamboo rat has been observed to travel in pairs, commonly consisting of one male and one female. [5] Because the bamboo rat has not been studied in great detail, not much is known regarding its mating habits.
The Amazon bamboo rat lives in dense rainforest vegetation. There is also a report of its presence in a gallery forest in the cerrado. [6] It can be found in much of the Amazon Basin, in parts of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. [1] [6]
The bristle-spined rat is an arboreal rodent from the Atlantic forest in eastern Brazil. Also known as the bristle-spined porcupine or thin-spined porcupine, it is the only member of the genus Chaetomys and the subfamily Chaetomyinae. It was officially described in 1818, but rarely sighted since, until December 1986, when two specimens - one a pregnant female - were found in the vicinity of Valencia in Bahia. Since then it has been recorded at several localities in eastern Brazil, from Sergipe to Espírito Santo, but it remains rare and threatened due to habitat loss, poaching and roadkills.
The toros or brush-tailed rats, genus Isothrix, are a group of spiny rats found in tropical South America, particularly in the Amazon Basin.
The broad-headed spiny rat is a spiny rat species from South America. The etymology of the species name is the Latin word laticeps meaning "wide-headed".
The Bolivian bamboo rat, is a species of spiny rat from South America.
The giant tree-rat is a species in the family Echimyidae, the spiny rats. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Toromys. It is endemic to Brazil, where it occurs in the flooded forest along the banks of the Amazon River and its tributaries.
The Atlantic bamboo rat, or southern bamboo rat, is a spiny rat species found in humid tropical forests in Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. It is the only member of the genus Kannabateomys.
The tuft-tailed spiny tree rat is a spiny rat species from Brazil south of the Amazon River, where it has been found in grassland and gallery forest. It is the only species in the genus Lonchothrix. Very little is known about this rodent. It is small with an average adult weight of about 138 grams. It is nocturnal and solitary in habits.
The long-tailed spiny rat is a spiny rat species found in Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay.
Yonenaga's Atlantic spiny-rat or torch-tail spiny rat is a spiny rat species endemic to Brazil. Locally, it is known as rabo de facho. Named for Yatiyo Yonenaga-Yassuda, a cytogenetics researcher, it is considered an endangered species due to its highly restricted distribution and ongoing habitat loss. Genetic evidence shows that it diverged from its closest living relative, the hairy Atlantic spiny rat, around 8.5 million years ago, during the Late Miocene.
Phyllomys is a genus of arboreal spiny rat, geographically restricted to the forests of eastern Brazil.
Mesomys is a genus of South American spiny rats in the family Echimyidae.
Echimys is a genus of the spiny rats family, the Echimyidae. Members of this genus are collectively called spiny tree-rats.
Tome's spiny rat, also known as Tomes' spiny rat or the Central American spiny rat, is a species of spiny rat distributed from Honduras to Ecuador. The IUCN has assessed its conservation status as being of "least concern".
Dactylomys is the genus of South American bamboo rats They are arboreal members of the family Echimyidae.
Olallamys is a genus of Andean soft-furred spiny rat that range from Panama through Colombia and Venezuela to northern Ecuador. These species are typically found at elevations above 2,000 metres (6,600 ft).
Makalata is a genus of rodents in the family Echimyidae.
The Boyacá spiny rat is a species of rodent in the family Echimyidae. It is endemic to Colombia; it is found primary forest in Carare River valley, Boyacá Department, 100 to 500 meters above sea level. Nocturnal, terrestrial and solitary, it feeds on seeds, fruit and some leaves and insects. It is threatened by habitat loss for mining and agriculture.
Pattonomys is a genus of rodent in the family Echimyidae, named after American mammalogist James L. Patton. It contains the following species:
Echimyidae is the family of neotropical spiny rats and their fossil relatives. This is the most species-rich family of hystricognath rodents. It is probably also the most ecologically diverse, with members ranging from fully arboreal to terrestrial to fossorial to semiaquatic habits. They presently exist mainly in South America; three members of the family also range into Central America, and the hutias are found in the West Indies in the Caribbean. Species of the extinct subfamily Heteropsomyinae formerly lived on Cuba, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico in the Antilles.
Echimyini is a tribe of echimyid rodents, proposed in 2016, and containing 13 extant genera: all of the tree rats Echimys, Phyllomys, Makalata, Pattonomys, Toromys, Diplomys, Santamartamys, and Isothrix, the long recognized dactylomines Dactylomys, Olallamys, and Kannabateomys, and the enigmatic and previously classified as eumysopines Lonchothrix and Mesomys. All these spiny rats genera are arboreal. Worth of note, the arboreal genus Callistomys – the painted-tree rat – does not belong to the tribe Echimyini. Because it is phylogenetically closer to Myocastor, Hoplomys, Proechimys, and Thrichomys than to the above-mentioned Echimyini genera, it is classified in the tribe Myocastorini.