| Big-eared climbing rat | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Cricetidae |
| Subfamily: | Tylomyinae |
| Tribe: | Tylomyini |
| Genus: | Ototylomys Merriam, 1901 |
| Species: | O. phyllotis |
| Binomial name | |
| Ototylomys phyllotis Merriam, 1901 | |
The big-eared climbing rat (Ototylomys phyllotis) is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is found in Central America from Mexico to Costa Rica.
The big-eared climbing rat is in the order Rodentia and in the family Cricetidae and is most widely distributed species in the genus Ototylomys. A second species of the genus was described in 2017 from the Mexican state of Chiapas. [2] The genus dates back 3.35 Mya, prior to the Great American Biotic Interchange and Its initial occurrence was near Honduras and El Salvador. [3]
Ototylomys is Greek for otus (ear), tylos (knob, knot, swelling), and mus (mouse), which describes the animals large ears and shelf-like skull. [4]
The big-eared climbing rat is a slender rat with two colors; dark on top of its body and light below. Its eyes and ears are large. It has large naked ears and a long naked tail with scales. Its size and color varies depending on where it lives geographically but most populations have a creamy white underbelly except for those in Mexico and Guatemala, which have a slate-colored underbelly. The skull is flat on top and has a prominent interparietal bone and supraorbital ridges There is no sexual dimorphism in this species. [5]
The genus Ototylomys is most closely related to Tylomys. They both are known as climbing rats that are endemic to Central America. They both have flattened braincases, elongated skulls, highly developed supraorbital ridges and incisive foramina. They also have similar reproductive glands. They differ in many traits some being that Ototylomys are smaller with larger ears. They also have a larger auditory bullae, their rostrum is narrower, and their baculum is longer and narrower compared to its size. [4]
This species ranges from Mexico to Costa Rica. [5]
The diet of the big-eared climbing rat is still incomplete but it mostly consists of fruit and leaves. We know their dietary needs are very not well known because the big-eared climbing rats that have been successfully housed in laboratories often have their tails fall off due to malnutrition. [5]
Big-eared climbing rats are arboreal and nocturnal and they are seen both on the ground and in the trees. Their copulatory behavior is peculiar in that there is a copulatory lock. [5]
There does not seem to be a regular estrous cycle. The gestation length of the big-eared climbing rat is 52 days. Delayed implantation may occur in this species. The females exhibit post-partum estrus and the litter size may vary from 1-4. [5]
From birth, newborns have been observed to be very advanced for their age. They chased their mothers almost from birth and by day 2 they are already 50% of the adults body length and respond to loud noises. By day 6 they open their eyes and they cling to their mothers teats for 30 days. Timing of sexual maternity varies within this species. [5]
The big-eared climbing rat has been a subject of study due to a disease caused by Leishmania mexicana. This is an intracellular parasite that infects these rodents and makes them a good model choice for further research on this topic. [6]
The Muroidea are a large superfamily of rodents, including mice, rats, voles, hamsters, lemmings, gerbils, and many other relatives. Although the Muroidea originated in Eurasia, they occupy a vast variety of habitats on every continent except Antarctica. Some authorities have placed all members of this group into a single family, Muridae, due to difficulties in determining how the subfamilies are related to one another. Many of the families within the Muroidea superfamily have more variations between the families than between the different clades. A possible explanation for the variations in rodents is because of the location of these rodents; these changes could have been due to radiation or the overall environment they migrated to or originated in. The following taxonomy is based on recent well-supported molecular phylogenies.
The Cricetidae are a family of rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. It includes true hamsters, voles, lemmings, muskrats, and New World rats and mice. At over 870 species, it is either the largest or second-largest family of mammals, and has members throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia.
Heteromyidae is a family of rodents consisting of kangaroo rats, kangaroo mice, pocket mice and spiny pocket mice. Most heteromyids live in complex burrows within the deserts and grasslands of western North America, though species within the genus Heteromys are also found in forests and their range extends as far south as northern South America. They feed mostly on seeds and other plant parts, which they carry in their fur-lined cheek pouches to their burrows.
The rodent subfamily Sigmodontinae includes New World rats and mice, with at least 376 species. Many authorities include the Neotominae and Tylomyinae as part of a larger definition of Sigmodontinae. When those genera are included, the species count numbers at least 508. Their distribution includes much of the New World, but the genera are predominantly South American, such as brucies. They invaded South America from Central America as part of the Great American Interchange near the end of the Miocene, about 5 million years ago. Sigmodontines proceeded to diversify explosively in the formerly isolated continent. They inhabit many of the same ecological niches that the Murinae occupy in the Old World.
The subfamily Tylomyinae consists of several species of New World rats and mice including the vesper and climbing rats. They are not as well known as their relatives in the subfamilies Sigmodontinae and Neotominae. Many authorities place all three of these subfamilies in a single subfamily, Sigmodontinae.
Sumichrast's vesper rat is a rodent of the family Cricetidae found from southern Mexico to Panama. It is named for François Sumichrast, the collector of the first specimen, and its closest relative is probably Hatt's vesper rat, a similar, but slightly smaller, species from the Yucatán Peninsula.
Oryzomys dimidiatus, also known as the Nicaraguan oryzomys, Thomas's rice rat, or the Nicaraguan rice rat, is a rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is known from only three specimens, all collected in southeastern Nicaragua since 1904. Placed in Nectomys upon its discovery, it was later classified in its own subgenus of Oryzomys and finally recognized as closely related to other species now placed in Oryzomys, including the marsh rice rat and Coues' rice rat, which occurs in the same region.
The Galápagos rice rat, also known as the Galápagos oryzomys, is a species of rodent that is endemic to the Galápagos Islands.
The gerbil leaf-eared mouse is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is found only in Peru.
The yellow-rumped leaf-eared mouse, otherwise known as the Patagonian leaf-eared mouse, is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae and order Rodentia. It is the most widespread member of the genus.
Tylomyini is a tribe of New World rats and mice in the subfamily Tylomyinae. The rats share the characteristics of all being climbing rats.
The big-eared woodrat is a nocturnal rodent of the woodrat genus Neotoma, in the family Cricetidae. Closely related to, and formerly included in the species Neotoma fuscipes, it is endemic to western North America and occurs west and south of the Salinas Valley from the California Coast Ranges south of Monterey Bay to northern Baja California, as well as in the Sierra Nevada, extending north to the South Fork American River.
Oryzomys antillarum, also known as the Jamaican rice rat, is an extinct rodent of Jamaica. A member of the genus Oryzomys within the family Cricetidae, it is similar to O. couesi of mainland Central America, from where it may have dispersed to its island during the last glacial period. O. antillarum is common in subfossil cave faunas and is also known from three specimens collected live in the 19th century. Some historical records of Jamaican rats may pertain to it. The species probably became extinct late in the 19th century, perhaps due to the introduction of the small Indian mongoose, competition with introduced rodents such as the brown rat, and habitat destruction.
A pack rat or packrat, also called a woodrat or trade rat, are any species in the North and Central American rodent genus Neotoma. Pack rats have a rat-like appearance, with long tails, large ears, and large, black eyes. Pack rats are noticeably larger than deer mice, harvest mice, and grasshopper mice, and are usually somewhat larger than cotton rats.
Oryzomys peninsulae, also known as the Lower California rice rat, is a species of rodent from western Mexico. Restricted to the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula, it is a member of the genus Oryzomys of family Cricetidae. Only about twenty individuals, collected around 1900, are known, and subsequent destruction of its riverine habitat may have driven the species to extinction.
