Tome's spiny rat

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Tome's spiny-rat [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Echimyidae
Subfamily: Echimyinae
Tribe: Myocastorini
Genus: Proechimys
Species:
P. semispinosus
Binomial name
Proechimys semispinosus
(Tomes, 1860)
Subspecies

P. s. burrusBangs, 1901
P. s. calidiorThomas, 1911
P. s. centralis(Thomas, 1896)
P. s. colombianusThomas, 1914
P. s. goldmaniBole, 1937
P. s. ignotusKellogg, 1946
P. s. panamensisThomas, 1900
P. s. rosaThomas, 1900
P. s. rubellusHollister, 1914
P. s. semispinosus(Tomes, 1860)

Contents

Proechimys semispinosus distribution (gray).png
Synonyms [3]

P. gorgonae Bangs, 1905

Tome's spiny rat (Proechimys semispinosus), also known as Tomes' spiny rat [4] 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".

Description

Tome's spiny rat is a large rat with a head-and-body length of between 220 and 280 mm (8.7 and 11.0 in) and a tail length of between 175 and 192 mm (6.9 and 7.6 in). The head is long and slender, with prominent eyes and narrow erect ears. At night, the eyes reflect a reddish eyeshine. The feet are long with strong nails. The pelage is sleek with spines mixed in with the dorsal fur, though these are not very obvious in the field. The upper parts are reddish-brown while the underparts are white. The tail is almost hairless and is reddish-brown above and white below. About 20% of animals encountered have no tail. This rat could be confused with the armored rat (Hoplomys gymnurus) which is much the same size, but the armored rat has a longer snout and smaller eyes, which are less reflective at night. Other terrestrial rats are considerably smaller and mostly have tails that are longer than their head-and-body lengths. [4]

Its karyotype has 2n = 30 and FN = 50-54. [1]

Distribution

The range of Tome's spiny rat extends from southeastern Honduras to southwestern Ecuador and possibly to northern Peru. It generally keeps below 800 m (2,620 ft) but in Ecuador may be found a little higher. It is a common species in evergreen and deciduous forest, favouring riparian corridors and low-lying areas. It is a tolerant and adaptable species, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of "least concern". [2]

Ecology

Tome's spiny rat is a nocturnal, mainly ground-dwelling rat. During the day it may hide in a burrow or under a fallen tree, in a hollow log or in dense vegetation. At night it moves slowly and often sits stationary beside a tree buttress or log. It may freeze if caught in the open. It feeds on fruits and seeds, fungi, plant material and insects, carrying larger objects to a safe place before consuming them. The females can breed four times a year, producing litters of up to five precocial young. [4] The reproductive rate seems to be limited by the availability of food. [5] On a group of small islands in Panama, each of which had its own range of tree species which fruited at different seasons, there were few births on each islet at times of fruit shortage and many at times of fruit abundance; the seasonal effects were even more marked when the spiny rat was the only frugivorous mammal on the island. [5]

Phylogeny

Morphological characters and mitochondrial cytochrome b DNA sequences showed that P. semispinosus belongs to the so-called semispinosus group of Proechimys species, and shares closer phylogenetic affinities with the other member of this clade: P. oconnelli . [6] [7] [8]

Species-level cladogram of the genus Proechimys.
Myocastorini  
   Proechimys   

  Proechimys simonsi (Simon's spiny rat)

  group semispinosus  

  Proechimys semispinosus (Tome's spiny rat)

  Proechimys gorgonae

  Proechimys oconnelli (O'Connell's spiny rat)

  group longicaudatus  

  Proechimys longicaudatus (Long-tailed spiny rat)

  Proechimys brevicauda (Short-tailed spiny rat)

  Proechimys gularis

  Proechimys cuvieri (Cuvier's spiny rat)

  group guyannensis  

  Proechimys guyannensis (Guyenne spiny rat)

  Proechimys roberti (Roberto's spiny rat)

  Proechimys oris

  Proechimys boimensis

  Proechimys echinothrix (Stiff-spine spiny rat)

  group trinitatus  

  Proechimys trinitatus (Trinidad spiny rat)

  Proechimys mincae (Minca spiny rat)

  Proechimys guairae (Guaira spiny rat)

  Proechimys poliopus (Gray-footed spiny rat)

  Proechimys magdalenae (Magdalena spiny rat)

  Proechimys chrysaeolus (Boyacá spiny rat)

  Proechimys urichi (Sucre spiny rat)

  Proechimys hoplomyoides (Guyanan spiny rat)

  Proechimys canicollis (Colombian spiny rat)

  Proechimys decumanus (Pacific spiny rat)

  group goeldii  

  Proechimys steerei (Steere's spiny rat)

  Proechimys quadruplicatus (Napo spiny rat)

  Proechimys amphichoricus

  Proechimys goeldii (Goeldi's spiny rat)

  Proechimys hyleae

  group gardneri  

  Proechimys gardneri (Gardner's spiny rat)

  Proechimys pattoni (Patton's spiny rat)

  Proechimys kulinae (Kulina spiny rat)

   Hoplomys   

  Hoplomys gymnurus

The cladogram has been reconstructed from morphological characters and mitochondrial DNA (cytochrome b) sequences. [6] [7] [9] [8]

Disease

Tome's spiny rat can serve as a reservoir species for the trypanosomes that are responsible for the disease leishmaniasis, which is spread by sandflies and affects humans. The rat can be infected and harbour the parasite without showing clinical signs of the disease. [10]

It also hosts the virus Thurisazvirus myis . [11]

Related Research Articles

The short-tailed spiny-rat or Huallaga spiny rat, is a spiny rat species found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

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

The Guyenne spiny-rat or Cayenne spiny rat, is a spiny rat species found in Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela.

Cuvier's spiny-rat is a spiny rat species found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru and Suriname.

The stiff-spine spiny-rat or Tefe spiny rat, is a spiny rat species found in Brazil and Colombia.

Gardner's spiny-rat is a spiny rat species found in Bolivia and Brazil.

Goeldi's spiny-rat is a spiny rat species found in Brazil.

The Guyanan spiny-rat is a spiny rat species found in Brazil, Guyana and Venezuela. The species was first described by George Henry Hamilton Tate in 1939.

The Kulina spiny-rat or Javari spiny rat, is a spiny rat species found in Brazil and Peru.

<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">Robert's spiny rat</span> Species of mammals belonging to the spiny rat family of rodents

Robert's spiny-rat or Para spiny rat, is a spiny rat species found in Brazil. This species is named after the collector Alphonso Robert, who collected the holotype of this species in 1901.

Patton's spiny-rat is a spiny rat species found in Brazil and Peru.

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

The Napo spiny rat is a spiny rat species found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.

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

Simons's spiny rat is a spiny rat species found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. It was named for American scientific collector Perry O. Simons.

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

Steere's spiny rat is a spiny rat species found in Bolivia, Brazil and Peru.

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

Proechimys is a genus of South American spiny rats of the family Echimyidae. All species of the genus are terrestrial. In the lowland Neotropical forests, Proechimys rodents are often the most abundant non-volant mammals. They are recognizable by reason of their elongated heads and long rostra, large and erect ears, narrow and long hind feet, and tails always shorter than head-and-body lengths. The dorsal pelage comprises a mixture of expanded, varyingly stiffened spines — hence the vernacular name of spiny rats — and soft hairs.

The Colombian spiny-rat is a species of rodent in the family Echimyidae. It is found in Colombia and Venezuela.

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.

The Pacific spiny rat is a species of rodent in the family Echimyidae. It is found in Ecuador and Peru.

The Minca spiny rat is a species of rodent in the family Echimyidae. It is endemic to Colombia.

O'Connell's spiny-rat is a species of rodent in the family Echimyidae. It is endemic to Colombia.

References

  1. 1 2 Woods, C.A.; Kilpatrick, C.W. (2005). "Species Proechimys semispinosus". 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. 1588. ISBN   978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC   62265494.
  2. 1 2 Roach, N.; Naylor, L. (2016). "Proechimys semispinosus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T18297A22208264. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T18297A22208264.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  3. ↑ Gómez-Laverde, M.; Aguilera, M.; Boada, C.; Timm, R. (2008). "Proechimys semispinosus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2008. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 Reid, Fiona (2009). A Field Guide to the Mammals of Central America and Southeast Mexico. OUP USA. p. 251. ISBN   978-0-19-534322-9.
  5. 1 2 Leigh, Egbert Giles (1999). Tropical Forest Ecology: A View from Barro Colorado Island. Oxford University Press. p. 28. ISBN   978-0-19-509603-3.
  6. 1 2 Patton, James L. (1987). "Species groups of spiny rats, genus Proechimys (Rodentia: Echimyidae)". Fieldiana: Zoology, Studies in Neotropical Mammalogy: Essays in Honor of Philip Hershkovitz. 39: 305–345. ISSN   0015-0754.
  7. 1 2 Da Silva, Maria Nazareth F. (1998). "Four New species of spiny rats of the genus Proechimys (Rodentia : Echimyidae) from the Western Amazon of Brazil". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 111: 436–471. ISSN   0006-324X.
  8. 1 2 Patton, James L.; Leite, Rafael N. (2015-03-09). "Genus Proechimys J. A. Allen, 1899". In Patton, James L.; Pardiñas, Ulyses F. J.; D’Elía, Guillermo (eds.). Mammals of South America, Volume 2: Rodents. University of Chicago Press. pp. 950–989. ISBN   9780226169606.
  9. ↑ Patton, James L.; Da Silva, Maria Nazareth F.; Malcolm, Jay R. (2000-01-01). "Mammals of the Rio Juruá and the evolutionary and ecological diversification of Amazonia". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 244: 1–306. doi:10.1206/0003-0090(2000)244<0001:MOTRJA>2.0.CO;2. ISSN   0003-0090. S2CID   85577629.
  10. ↑ Travi, B.L.; Arteaga, L.T.; Leon, A.P.; Adler. G.H. (2002). "Susceptibility of spiny rats (Proechimys semispinosus) to Leishmania (Viannia) panamensis and Leishmania (Leishmania) chagasi". Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. 97 (6): 887–892. doi: 10.1590/S0074-02762002000600025 . PMID   12386716.
  11. ↑ Paraskevopoulou S, Pirzer F, Goldmann N, Schmid J, Corman VM, Gottula LT, et al. (July 2020). "Proechimys semispinosus". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 117 (30): 17977–17983. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2006750117 . PMC   7395443 . PMID   32651267.
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