Yonenaga's Atlantic spiny rat

Last updated

Yonenaga's Atlantic spiny-rat
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Echimyidae
Subfamily: Euryzygomatomyinae
Genus: Trinomys
Species:
T. yonenagae
Binomial name
Trinomys yonenagae
(Rocha, 1995)
Trinomys yonenagae distribution (colored).png
Synonyms

Proechimys yonenagaeRocha, 1995 [2]

Yonenaga's Atlantic spiny-rat (Trinomys yonenagae) or torch-tail spiny rat is a spiny rat species endemic to Brazil. [1] [3] [4] Locally, it is known as rabo de facho. [5] Named for Yatiyo Yonenaga-Yassuda, a cytogenetics researcher, [2] it is considered an endangered species due to its highly restricted distribution and ongoing habitat loss. [1] 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. [6]

Contents

Description

This is a comparatively small spiny rat, with an average head and body length of 16 centimetres (6.3 in) and a tail that averages 19 centimetres (7.5 in) long. It has large hind feet which, together with the long tail, are likely related to the fact that it mainly moves by hopping. The ears are also unusually large, as are the bony structures surrounding the inner ear. The fur is near-white on the underparts, but is otherwise grey in infants, changing to a richer brown colour as the animal reaches adulthood. Despite the name, the fur is mostly soft, although there are longer, flexible, dark-coloured bristles scattered across the body that correspond to the spines on most other spiny rats. [7] An enlarged and modified sebaceous gland is present near the anus, and produces a secretion described as having a "tutti-frutti-like" odour. [5]

Distribution and habitat

Yonenaga's Atlantic spiny rat is known only from an approximately 130 kilometres (81 mi) stretch of the west bank of the São Francisco River in Bahia state, Brazil. [8] This region is covered by sandy dunes on the border between the cerrado and caatinga habitats of eastern Brazil. [4] It is considered a semi-arid habitat, [9] with the sparse local plant life dominated by cactuses and bromeliads. [10]

Behaviour

Despite living in a hot, dry, and sandy environment, Yonenaga's Atlantic spiny rat has few of the anatomic and physiologic adaptations expected of a desert-dwelling animal [11] and instead relies on its behaviour to avoid the worst of the local conditions. It is nocturnal, [12] and unlike other, closely related, spiny rats, digs burrows in which it spends the day. [2] The burrows are shared communally, typically located in valleys between sand dunes where plants can provide local shade, and may extend 15 metres (49 ft) below the surface. [4] They are omnivorous, eating some insects, but primarily feeding on the local vegetation, including araçá-boi fruit, from which they obtain much of their water. [7]

Each burrow system is shared by up to eight adults, plus a variable number of young. The species does not appear to be territorial, and multiple females living in the same burrow raise young simultaneously. [4] While aggression between neighbours is occasionally seen, most social behaviours are affiliative, including grooming, nose-to-nose or nose-to-ear rubbing and huddling. Even when intruders of the same species enter the burrow system, aggression is limited, and the individuals are more likely to huddle together than to fight. [13] [7] As vision is limited in their environment, in addition to vocal communication [14] and drumming with their feet as warning signals, [7] they rely on scents from anal glands to provide cues to identify and discern intentions of other rodents in the colony. [5]

Reproduction

Yonenaga's Atlantic spiny rat breeds throughout the year, although young born during the dry season are much less likely to survive. Courtship involves foot-stamping, calls, and neck-biting by the males. The species is thought to be monogamous, but individuals of both sexes have been recorded helping to care for young that are not their biological offspring within the communal burrows. Pregnancy lasts for three months, and typically results in the birth of two young. The young are born with fine grey fur, with their eyes open and already able to move around. Sexual maturity occurs between three and four months of age, and the young may remain in the burrow of their birth well into adulthood, rather than dispersing to establish a new colony. In captivity they have been reported to live for up to 13 years, unusually long for a rodent of their size. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bristle-spined rat</span> Species of rodent

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.

<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.

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 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atlantic bamboo rat</span> Genus of South American spiny rats

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long-tailed spiny rat</span> Species of mammals belonging to the spiny rat family of rodents

The long-tailed spiny rat is a spiny rat species found in Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common punaré</span> Species of mammals in the spiny rat family of rodents

The common punaré, is a species of spiny rat endemic to Brazil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gracile Atlantic spiny rat</span> Species of rodent

Trinomys gratiosus is a species in the mainly South American family Echimyidae, the spiny rats; it occurs in southeast Brazil from the south bank of the River Doce, Espirito Sante, southward to Teresopolis, Rio de Janeiro.

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

The Atlantic spiny rats are all found in the genus Trinomys. They are a group of South American spiny-rats in the family Echimyidae.

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

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

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 

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

Euryzygomatomys is a genus of South American rodents, commonly called guiaras, in the family Echimyidae. It contains two extant and one fossil species, found in Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. They are as follows:

<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.

Makalata is a genus of rodents in the family Echimyidae.

Pattonomys is a genus of rodent in the family Echimyidae, named after American mammalogist James L. Patton. It contains the following species:

Clyomys is a South American rodent genus in the family Echimyidae. It contains two species, found in tropical savannas and grasslands from circa 100 m (300 ft) to 1,100 m (3,600 ft) elevation in central Brazil and eastern Paraguay.

<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">Euryzygomatomyinae</span> Subfamily of rodents

Euryzygomatinae is a subfamily of rodents, proposed in 2017, and containing three extant genera of spiny Echimyidae: Clyomys, Euryzygomatomys, and Trinomys.

<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.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Roach, N.; Naylor, L. (2016). "Trinomys yonenagae". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T136414A22212204. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T136414A22212204.en . Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 da Rocha, P.L.B. (1995). "Proechimys yonenagae, a new species of spiny rat (Rodentia : Echimyidae) from fossil sand dunes in the Brazilian Caatinga". Mammalia. 59 (4): 537–549. doi:10.1515/mamm.1995.59.4.537. S2CID   201093005.
  3. ↑ Emmons, Louise H. (1990). Neotropical rainforest mammals : a field guide. Illustrations: Feer, François. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN   0-226-20716-1.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Santos, J.W.A.; Lacey, E.A. (February 2011). "Burrow sharing in the desert-adapted torch-tail spiny rat, Trinomys yonenagae". Journal of Mammalogy. 92 (1): 3–11. doi: 10.1644/09-MAMM-S-389.1 .
  5. 1 2 3 Manaf, Paulo; de Brito-Gitirana, Lycia; Oliveira, Elisabeth Spinelli (Jul 2003). "Evidence of chemical communication in the spiny rat Trinomys yonenagae (Echimyidae): Anal scent gland and social interactions". Canadian Journal of Zoology. 81 (7): 1138–43. doi:10.1139/z03-095.
  6. ↑ Fabre, P.; Upham, N.S.; et al. (March 2017). "Mitogenomic phylogeny, diversification, and biogeography of South American spiny rats". Molecular Biology and Evolution. 34 (3): 613–633. doi: 10.1093/molbev/msw261 . PMID   28025278.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Luchesi, Lilian; Cantano, L.M.R.; et al. (June 2019). "Trinomys yonenagae (Rodentia: Echimyidae)". Mammalian Species. 51 (971): 1–10. doi:10.1093/mspecies/sez001.
  8. ↑ Gutiérrez, Eliécer E.; Marinho-Filho, Jader (January 2017). "The mammalian faunas endemic to the Cerrado and the Caatinga". ZooKeys (644): 105–157. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.644.10827 . PMC   5242261 . PMID   28144187.
  9. ↑ Alvares, Clayton Alcarde; Stape, José Luiz; Sentelhas, Paulo Cesar; de Moraes Gonçalves, José Leonardo; Sparovek, Gerd (2013). "Köppen's climate classification map for Brazil". Meteorologische Zeitschrift. 22 (6): 711–728. Bibcode:2013MetZe..22..711A. doi: 10.1127/0941-2948/2013/0507 .
  10. ↑ da Rocha, P.L.B.; de Queiroz, L.P.; Pirani, J.R. (December 2004). "Plant species and habitat structure in a sand dune field in the Brazilian Caatinga: a homogeneous habitat harbouring an endemic biota". Brazilian Journal of Botany. 27 (4): 739–755. doi: 10.1590/S0100-84042004000400013 .
  11. ↑ da Rocha, P.L.B.; Renous, S.; et al. (July 2007). "Evolution toward asymmetrical gaits in Neotropical spiny rats (Rodentia: Echimyidae): evidences favoring adaptation". Canadian Journal of Zoology. 85 (6): 709–717. doi:10.1139/Z07-049.
  12. ↑ Marcomini, Monique; Oliveira, Elisabeth (August 2010). "Activity pattern of echimyid rodent species from the Brazilian Caatinga in captivity". Biological Rhythm Research. 34 (2): 157–166. doi:10.1076/brhm.34.2.157.14491. S2CID   84793518.
  13. ↑ de Freitas, J.N.S.; da Silva Carvalho, L.A.; et al. (May 2009). "Affiliation in the social interactions in captivity of the torch tail rat, Trinomys yonenagae (Rodentia: Echimyidae)". Journal of Ethology. 28: 105–112. doi:10.1007/s10164-009-0161-0. S2CID   34200319.
  14. ↑ de Freitas, J.N.S.; El-Hani, C.N.; da Rocha, P.L.B. (March 2008). "Affiliation in four echimyid rodent species based on intrasexual dyadic encounters: evolutionary implications". Ethology. 114 (4): 389–397. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.2008.01481.x.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.