Microryzomys

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Microryzomys
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Cricetidae
Subfamily: Sigmodontinae
Tribe: Oryzomyini
Genus: Microryzomys
Thomas, 1917
Type species
Hesperomys minutus
Species

Microryzomys is a genus of rodent in the tribe Oryzomyini of family Cricetidae. It is closely related to Oreoryzomys , Oligoryzomys , and Neacomys . [1] It contains two species, both restricted to the Andes: M. altissimus and M. minutus . [2]

Contents

Characteristics

Microryzomys species are small members of the rodent tribe Oryzomyini, weighing in the region of 10 to 15 g (0.35 to 0.53 oz), and characterised by their long soft fur and tail longer than their head-and-body-length. They have small hind feet with six fleshy pads on the under surface, and with the fifth toe nearly as long as the middle three. The four pairs of mammae are arranged in the typical fashion for members of the tribe. [3] At one time, this genus was considered to be a subgenus of Oryzomys , but Carleton and Musser (1989) raised it to full generic status on the basis of various anatomic details of skull and dentition and on certain morphological traits. [4]

Distribution

Microryzomys is found in high mountainous areas of western South America. The range of the genus extends from the Caribbean coastal ranges and the Cordillera de Mérida of Venezuela, through the Cordillera Occidental, Cordillera Central and Cordillera Oriental of Colombia, to the Andes ranges of Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. This is also the range of M. minutus, because M. altissimus occurs only in the higher parts of this range and is limited to Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. M. minutus mostly occurs in moist forest habitats at altitudes between 1,500 and 3,500 m (4,900 and 11,500 ft), while M. altissimus inhabits moist subalpine forests and páramo grassland, at altitudes between 2,500 and 4,000 m (8,200 and 13,100 ft). [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>Oligoryzomys</i> Genus of rodents

Oligoryzomys is a genus of rodents in the tribe Oryzomyini of family Cricetidae. Many species are known as pygmy rice rats or colilargos. The genus is found from Mexico to Tierra del Fuego and includes approximately 17 species.

The genus Neacomys, also known as bristly mice because of their spiny fur, includes several species of rodents in the tribe Oryzomyini of family Cricetidae. It is most closely related to Oligoryzomys, Oreoryzomys, and Microryzomys. Neacomys species are mainly found in the Amazon basin, but N. pictus occurs in Panama and N. tenuipes in montane Colombia.

Handleyomys fuscatus, also known as the dusky-footed Handley's mouse or dusky-footed montane mouse, is a species of rodent in the tribe Oryzomyini of family Cricetidae. It was previously placed in the genus Aepeomys, but it is closely similar to Handleyomys intectus, and accordingly both species were placed in the new genus Handleyomys in 2002. It is found only in Colombia.

Microryzomys altissimus, also known as the Páramo colilargo or highland small rice rat, is a species of rodent in the genus Microryzomys of family Cricetidae. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, but the Colombian segment may be a separate species.

Microryzomys minutus, also known as the montane colilargo or the forest small rice rat, is a species of rodent in the genus Microryzomys of family Cricetidae. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela, but these populations may represent more than one species.

Nephelomys albigularis, also known as the white-throated oryzomys or Tomes's rice rat, is a species of rodent in the genus Nephelomys of family Cricetidae. Described in 1860, it was the first Nephelomys species to be discovered. It was originally described in the defunct genus Hesperomys as Hesperomys albigularis and considered related to the much smaller H. longicaudatus. By 1894, it was placed in Oryzomys, as Oryzomys albigularis, and associated with what is now Nephelomys meridensis. In the early 1960s, the scope of the species was considerably expanded to include most of the species that are now in Nephelomys, as well as a single name, boliviae, that is currently a synonym of Euryoryzomys nitidus. From 1976 on, several of these were reinstated as separate species.

Oreoryzomys balneator, also known as the Peruvian rice rat or Ecuadoran oryzomys, is a species of rodent in the tribe Oryzomyini of family Cricetidae. It is found in Ecuador and northern Peru in cloud forest at elevations from 1500 to 1800 m. It is the only species in the genus Oreoryzomys, which was included in Oryzomys until 2006. The genus name Oreoryzomys is a combination of ορος the Greek word for "mountain" with the old genus name Oryzomys and refers to the mountainous habitat of O. balneator. Recent research suggests that O. balneator is not closely related to Oryzomys, but instead is probably related to Microryzomys within a clade also including Neacomys and Oligoryzomys.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hammond's rice rat</span> Species of rodent in the family Cricetidae from Ecuador

Mindomys hammondi, also known as Hammond's rice rat or Hammond's oryzomys, is an endangered species of rodent in the tribe Oryzomyini of family Cricetidae. Formerly considered to be related with Nectomys, Sigmodontomys, Megalomys, or Oryzomys, it is now placed in then genus Mindomys, but its relationships remain obscure; some evidence supports a placement near Oecomys or as a basal member of Oryzomyini.

<i>Eremoryzomys</i> Rodent species in the family Cricetidae from central Peru

Eremoryzomys polius, also known as the gray rice rat or the Marañon oryzomys, is a rodent species in the tribe Oryzomyini of the family Cricetidae. Discovered in 1912 and first described in 1913 by Wilfred Osgood, it was originally placed in Oryzomys and named Oryzomys polius. In 2006, a cladistic analysis found that it was not closely related to Oryzomys in the strict sense or to any other oryzomyine then known, so that it is now placed in its own genus, Eremoryzomys. The Brazilian genus Drymoreomys, named in 2011, is probably the closest relative of Eremoryzomys. Eremoryzomys has a limited distribution in the dry upper valley of the Marañón River in central Peru, but may yet contain more than one species.

Aegialomys xanthaeolus, also known as the yellowish oryzomys or yellowish rice rat, is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It belongs to the genus Aegialomys in tribe Oryzomyini, which was not recognized as distinct from Oryzomys until 2006. It is found in coastal Ecuador and Peru. Though it is currently the only formally recognized mainland species of Aegialomys, at least one other exists. The specific name is sometimes incorrectly spelled "xantheolus", without the second "a".

Scolomys is a genus of rodent in the tribe Oryzomyini of the family Cricetidae. Some evidence suggests that it is related to Zygodontomys. It is characterized, among other traits, by spiny fur. It contains two species, S. melanops and S. ucayalensis.

Sigmodontomys is a genus of rodent in the tribe Oryzomyini of family Cricetidae. It is related to Nectomys and Melanomys and used to be included in Nectomys. It includes two species, Sigmodontomys alfari and the much rarer Sigmodontomys aphrastus, but whether these are indeed each other's closest relatives is uncertain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oryzomyini</span> Tribe of rodents

Oryzomyini is a tribe of rodents in the subfamily Sigmodontinae of the family Cricetidae. It includes about 120 species in about thirty genera, distributed from the eastern United States to the southernmost parts of South America, including many offshore islands. It is part of the clade Oryzomyalia, which includes most of the South American Sigmodontinae.

Cerradomys maracajuensis, also known as the Maracaju oryzomys, is a rodent species from South America. It is terrestrial and is found in gallery forests in Bolivia, Paraguay and nearby Brazil and Peru. It was first discovered near the Brazilian city of Maracaju.

<i>Carletonomys</i> Extinct genus of rodents

Carletonomys cailoi is an extinct rodent from the Pleistocene (Ensenadan) of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. Although known only from a single maxilla with the first molar, its features are so distinctive that it is placed in its own genus, Carletonomys. Discovered in 1998 and formally described in 2008, it is part of a well-defined group of oryzomyine rodents that also includes Holochilus, Noronhomys, Lundomys, and Pseudoryzomys. This group is characterized by progressive semiaquatic specializations and a reduction in the complexity of molar morphology.

<i>Transandinomys</i> Genus of small rodents from Central and South America

Transandinomys is a genus of rodents in the tribe Oryzomyini of family Cricetidae. It includes two species—T. bolivaris and T. talamancae—found in forests from Honduras in Central America south and east to southwestern Ecuador and northwestern Venezuela in northern South America. Until 2006, its members were included in the genus Oryzomys, but phylogenetic analysis showed that they are not closely related to the type species of that genus, and they have therefore been placed in a new genus. They may be most closely related to genera like Hylaeamys and Euryoryzomys, which contain very similar species. Both species of Transandinomys have had eventful taxonomic histories.

<i>Handleyomys</i> Genus of rodents

Handleyomys is a genus of Central and South American rodents in the tribe Oryzomyini of family Cricetidae. It was first described in 2002 to include two species from the Colombian Andes which were previously included in distinct and unrelated genera, Aepeomys and Oryzomys, but which turned out to be closely related. Later, in 2006, six other species were provisionally added from Oryzomys; these are expected to be placed in new genera in the future.

In anatomy, posterolateral palatal pits are gaps at the sides of the back of the bony palate, near the last molars. Posterolateral palatal pits are present, in various degrees of development, in several members of the rodent family Cricetidae. Many members of the family lack them or have only simple pits, but Arvicolinae and Oryzomyini have more highly developed posterolateral palatal pits. Posterolateral palatal pits are also present in some other rodents, including Glis, Jaculus, Hystrix, Abrocoma, Ctenomys, Chinchilla, and Lagidium.

In mammals, ungual tufts are tufts of hairs at the base of claws of the forefeet and hindfeet. Their presence has been used as a character in cladistic studies of the Cricetidae, a large family of rodents.

<i>Drymoreomys</i> A rodent genus with one species in the family Cricetidae from the Atlantic Forest of Brazil

Drymoreomys is a rodent genus in the tribe Oryzomyini that lives in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil. The single species, D. albimaculatus, is known only from the states of São Paulo and Santa Catarina and was not named until 2011. It lives in the humid forest on the eastern slopes of the Serra do Mar and perhaps reproduces year-round. Although its range is relatively large and includes some protected areas, it is patchy and threatened, and the discoverers recommend that the animal be considered "Near Threatened" on the IUCN Red List. Within Oryzomyini, Drymoreomys appears to be most closely related to Eremoryzomys from the Andes of Peru, a biogeographically unusual relationship, in that the two populations are widely separated and each is adapted to an arid or a moist environment.

References

  1. Weksler, 2006
  2. Musser, G. G.; Carleton, M. D. (2005). "Superfamily Muroidea". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 1126–1127. ISBN   978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC   62265494.
  3. Carleton, M. D. (9 March 2015). Patton, J. L.; Pardiñas, U. F. J.; D’Elía, G. (eds.). Mammals of South America, Volume 2: Rodents. University of Chicago Press. pp. 355–359. ISBN   978-0-226-16960-6. OCLC   921432000.
  4. 1 2 Carleton, Michael D.; Musser, Guy G. (1989). "Systematic studies of oryzomyine rodents (Muridae, Sigmodontinae) : a synopsis of Microryzomys". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 191. hdl:2246/953.

Literature cited