Atlantic bamboo rat

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Atlantic bamboo rat
Temporal range: Pleistocene to Recent
Kannabateomys amblyonyx 179158290.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Echimyidae
Subfamily: Echimyinae
Tribe: Echimyini
Genus: Kannabateomys
Jentink, 1891
Species:
K. amblyonyx
Binomial name
Kannabateomys amblyonyx
Wagner, 1845
Subspecies

K. a. amblyonyx Wagner, 1845
K. a. pallidior Thomas, 1903

Contents

The Atlantic bamboo rat (Kannabateomys amblyonyx), 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. [2]

Description

The Atlantic bamboo rat can reach a head-and-body length of 25 cm (9.8 in) with a tail of 32 cm (12.6 in). Its weight is about 475 g (1 lb). The pelage is the typical agouti brown-to-grey colour of many rodents, grading to chestnut on the flanks. The chin and underparts are white tinged with reddish brown. The first 6 cm (2.4 in) of the tail are well-haired but the rest is sparsely haired. There is a distinct tuft of hairs at the tip. When fully grown, this bamboo rat with its long tail is unlikely to be mistaken for any other species. [3]

Etymology

The genus name Kannabateomys derives from the three ancient greek words κάννα (kánna), meaning "reed, cane", βατέω (batéō), meaning "to mount", and μῦς (mûs), meaning "mouse, rat". [4] [5] [6]

The species name amblyonyx derives from the two ancient greek words ἀμβλύς (amblús), meaning "blunt, not sharp", and ὄνυξ (ónux), meaning "claw, fingernail". [4] [5]

Distribution and habitat

This species is native to South America, where its range includes southeastern Brazil, eastern Paraguay and northeastern Argentina. Typical habitat is moist forests near water with dense understorey of bamboos. It is particularly associated with the giant bamboo Guadua angustifolia , which forms thickets. [7]

Ecology

The Atlantic bamboo rat is nocturnal and is highly arboreal, scrambling around in trees and bamboos, especially near water. The home range is about 1,000 m2 (1,200 sq yd). When alarmed it issues loud squeals. [3] It probably feeds on grasses, leaves, shoots, fruits and tubers. [8]

Phylogeny

Kannabateomys is a member of the Echimyini clade of arboreal Echimyidae rodents. Its closest relatives are Dactylomys and Olallamys. These South American bamboo rats share unique features and are grouped under the informal clade name of "Dactylomyines". [9] The dactylomyines are the sister genera to Diplomys and Santamartamys. All these taxa are closely related to the genera Echimys, Phyllomys, Makalata, Pattonomys, and Toromys. In turn, these genera share phylogenetic affinities with the clade containing Lonchothrix and Mesomys, and with Isothrix. [10]

Genus-level cladogram of the Echimyini.
Echimyini  
         

  Isothrix

  "Eumysopines"  
         
         
         
         

  Pattonomys

  Toromys
  (Giant tree-rat)

         

  Makalata

The cladogram has been reconstructed from mitochondrial and nuclear DNA characters. [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [10]

Status

K. amblyonyx is not a common species. In the state of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, for example, it has been recorded as having a density of just over four individuals per square kilometre. As a nocturnal animal it is seldom seen, but it has an extensive range and is presumed to have a large total population. In some places, such as in the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil, it is threatened locally by forest clearance, but other specific threats have not been identified and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as "least concern". [1]

Related Research Articles

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<i>Isothrix</i> Genus of mammals belonging to the spiny rat family of rodents

The toros or brush-tailed rats, genus Isothrix, are a group of spiny rats found in tropical South America, particularly in the Amazon Basin.

Owl's spiny rat is a rodent species in the family Echimyidae found in Brazil. It is the only species in the genus Carterodon. Owl's spiny rat has evolved characteristics such as a heightened ability to dig in open grasslands during times of environmental change.

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Phyllomys is a genus of arboreal spiny rat, geographically restricted to the forests of eastern Brazil.

<i>Mesomys</i> Genus of mammals belonging to the spiny rat family of rodents

Mesomys is a genus of South American spiny rats in the family Echimyidae.

<i>Echimys</i> Genus of mammals belonging to the spiny rat family of rodents

Echimys is a genus of the spiny rats family, the Echimyidae. Members of this genus are collectively called spiny tree-rats.

<i>Dactylomys</i> Genus of mammals belonging to the spiny rat family of rodents

Dactylomys is the genus of South American bamboo rats They are arboreal members of the family Echimyidae.

<i>Olallamys</i> Genus of mammals belonging to the spiny rat family of rodents

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<i>Diplomys</i> Genus of mammals belonging to the spiny rat family of rodents

Diplomys is a genus of rodent in the family Echimyidae. They are found in Costa Rica, Ecuador, Colombia and Panama.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prehensile-tailed hutia</span> Species of rodent

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Echimyidae</span> Family of rodents

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Myocastorini</span> A tribe of mammals belonging to the spiny rat family of rodents

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Echimyini</span> A tribe of mammals belonging to the spiny rat family of rodents

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Echimyinae</span> A subfamily of mammals belonging to the spiny rat family of rodents

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References

  1. 1 2 Catzeflis, F.; Patton J.; Percequillo, A.; Weksler, M. (2016). "Kannabateomys amblyonyx". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T10957A22205666. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T10957A22205666.en . Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. ↑ Woods, C.A.; Kilpatrick, C.W. (2005). "Genus Kannabateomys". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 1576. ISBN   978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC   62265494.
  3. 1 2 Eisenberg, John F.; Redford, Kent H. (2000). Mammals of the Neotropics, Volume 3: Ecuador, Bolivia, Brazil. University of Chicago Press. p. 481. ISBN   978-0-226-19542-1.
  4. 1 2 Bailly, Anatole (1981-01-01). Abrégé du dictionnaire grec français. Paris: Hachette. ISBN   978-2010035289. OCLC   461974285.
  5. 1 2 Bailly, Anatole. "Greek-french dictionary online". www.tabularium.be. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  6. ↑ Palmer, T. S. (1904). Details - Index generum mammalium: a list of the genera and families of mammals. - Biodiversity Heritage Library. Washington, Govt. Print. Off. p. 356. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.39809.
  7. ↑ Londoño, X. 2000. Guadua. In E. J. Judziewicz, R. J. Soreng, G. Davidse, P. M. Peterson, T. S. Filgueiras & F. O. Zuloaga (eds.) Catalogue of New World Grasses (Poaceae): I. Subfamilies Anomochlooideae, Bambusoideae, Ehrhartoideae, and Pharoideae, Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 39: 58–62. Smithsonian Institution, Washington
  8. ↑ Lord, Rexford D. (2007). Mammals of South America. JHU Press. p. 64. ISBN   978-0-8018-8494-8.
  9. ↑ Fabre, Pierre-Henri; Patton, James L.; Leite, Yuri L. R. (2016). "Family Echimyidae (hutias, South American spiny-rats and coypu)". In Wilson, Don E.; Lacher, Thomas E. Jr; Mittermeier, Russell A. (eds.). Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Vol 6. Lagomorphs and Rodents I. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. pp. 552–641. ISBN   978-84-941892-3-4.
  10. 1 2 Fabre, Pierre-Henri; Upham, Nathan S.; Emmons, Louise H.; Justy, Fabienne; Leite, Yuri L. R.; Loss, Ana Carolina; Orlando, Ludovic; Tilak, Marie-Ka; Patterson, Bruce D.; Douzery, Emmanuel J. P. (2017-03-01). "Mitogenomic Phylogeny, Diversification, and Biogeography of South American Spiny Rats". Molecular Biology and Evolution. 34 (3): 613–633. doi: 10.1093/molbev/msw261 . ISSN   0737-4038. PMID   28025278.
  11. ↑ Lara, Márcia C.; Patton, James L.; da Silva, Maria Nazareth F. (1996). "The Simultaneous Diversification of South American Echimyid Rodents (Hystricognathi) Based on Complete Cytochrome b Sequences". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 5 (2): 403–413. doi:10.1006/mpev.1996.0035. PMID   8728398.
  12. ↑ Leite, Yuri L. R.; Patton, James L. (2002). "Evolution of South American spiny rats (Rodentia, Echimyidae): the star-phylogeny hypothesis revisited". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 25 (3): 455–464. doi:10.1016/s1055-7903(02)00279-8. PMID   12450750.
  13. ↑ Galewski, Thomas; Mauffrey, Jean-François; Leite, Yuri L. R.; Patton, James L.; Douzery, Emmanuel J. P. (2005). "Ecomorphological diversification among South American spiny rats (Rodentia; Echimyidae): a phylogenetic and chronological approach". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 34 (3): 601–615. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2004.11.015. PMID   15683932.
  14. ↑ Upham, Nathan S.; Patterson, Bruce D. (2012). "Diversification and biogeography of the Neotropical caviomorph lineage Octodontoidea (Rodentia: Hystricognathi)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 63 (2): 417–429. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2012.01.020. PMID   22327013.
  15. ↑ Fabre, Pierre-Henri; Galewski, Thomas; Tilak, Marie-ka; Douzery, Emmanuel J. P. (2013-03-01). "Diversification of South American spiny rats (Echimyidae): a multigene phylogenetic approach". Zoologica Scripta. 42 (2): 117–134. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6409.2012.00572.x. ISSN   1463-6409. S2CID   83639441.
  16. ↑ Loss, Ana; Moura, Raquel T.; Leite, Yuri L. R. (2014). "Unexpected phylogenetic relationships of the painted tree rat Callistomys pictus (Rodentia: Echimyidae)" (PDF). Natureza on Line. 12: 132–136.
  17. ↑ Fabre, Pierre-Henri; Vilstrup, Julia T.; Raghavan, Maanasa; Der Sarkissian, Clio; Willerslev, Eske; Douzery, Emmanuel J. P.; Orlando, Ludovic (2014-07-01). "Rodents of the Caribbean: origin and diversification of hutias unravelled by next-generation museomics". Biology Letters. 10 (7): 20140266. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2014.0266. ISSN   1744-9561. PMC   4126619 . PMID   25115033.
  18. ↑ Upham, Nathan S.; Patterson, Bruce D. (2015). "Evolution of Caviomorph rodents: a complete phylogeny and timetree for living genera". In Vassallo, Aldo Ivan; Antenucci, Daniel (eds.). Biology of caviomorph rodents: diversity and evolution. Buenos Aires: SAREM Series A, Mammalogical Research — Sociedad Argentina para el Estudio de los Mamíferos. pp. 63–120.
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