New, possibly arboreal rice rat species discovered in Ecuador
Date:
March 18, 2022
Source:
Pensoft Publishers
Summary:
Three expeditions led an international research to the Cordillera
de Kutuku', an isolated mountain range in Ecuador, to find just
one specimen of the previously unknown species. The find in the
Amazonian side of the Andes underlines the valuable biological
role of this mountainous region.
FULL STORY ==========================================================================
"In total, the expeditions to the Kutuku' region in southeastern Ecuador involved 1,200 trap nights, but only one specimen of the new species
Mindomys kutuku was found," says Dr. Claudia Koch, curator of herpetology
at the LIB, Museum Koenig Bonn, explaining the effort that went into
locating the rare animal. From the collected specimen, the dry skin,
skeleton and tissue were preserved for the collections. Preservation
will allow future research to detect environmental changes, learn more
about the ecology of the animals and plants -- and securely document
the new species description, which was published in late February in
the journal Evolutionary Systematics.The rice rat genus Mindomys was
previously considered monotypic and included only the type species
Mindomys hammondi. This species is known from only a few specimens,
all of which were collected in the foothill forests of the Andes in northwestern Ecuador.
========================================================================== Using computed tomography images obtained for the new species at LIB
and for the holotype (specimen from which a species was described) of
M. hammondi at the Natural History Museum in London, the researchers
Jorge Brito of the Instituto Nacional de la Biodiversidad (INABIO),
Claudia Koch, Nicola's Tinoco from the Pontificia Universidad Cato'lica
del Ecuador (PUCE) and Ulyses Pardin~as from the Instituto de Diversidad
y Evolucio'n del Sur (IDEAus- CONICET) were able to compare the skulls
of the two species in great detail in a 3D model and distinguish between
the two species.
The adult male of M. kutuku measures just under 35 cm from snout to
tip of tail, of which the tail makes up about 20 cm. It has a dark reddish-brown dorsal coloration and a pale yellow ventral fur.
Since the only specimen found was captured with the help of a ground
trap set, it could not be observed in its habitat. Thus, as with its
sister species M.
hammondi, which was described in 1913, virtually nothing is known about
the natural history of the new species. The scientists suspect that
both of them could be arboreal species. A tail that is significantly
longer than the body length and also covered with long hairs could be two features that indicate an arboreal lifestyle. However, aboreality is the
least studied way of life within the New World mice and a reliable study
of the anatomical aspects typical of this way of life is still lacking.
Previously, Mindomys records were restricted to the western Andean
foothills of Ecuador. The Kutuku' material now shows that the genus also
occurs on the Amazonian side of the Andes and underscores the valuable biological importance of the isolated mountain ranges in eastern Ecuador.
========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Pensoft_Publishers. The original
text of this story is licensed under a Creative_Commons_License. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.
========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Jorge Brito, Claudia Koch, Nicola's Tinoco, Ulyses F. J. Pardin~as.
A new species of Mindomys (Rodentia, Cricetidae) with
remarks on external traits as indicators of arboreality in
sigmodontine rodents.
Evolutionary Systematics, 2022; 6 (1): 35 DOI:
10.3897/evolsyst.6.76879 ==========================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220318110252.htm
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