White-faced spiny tree-rat
| White-faced spiny tree-rat | |
|---|---|
| In northeastern Brazil | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Echimyidae |
| Genus: | Echimys |
| Species: | E. chrysurus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Echimys chrysurus (Zimmermann, 1780)[2]
| |
| Synonyms[3] | |
|
Myoxus chrysurus Zimmermann, 1780 | |
The white-faced spiny tree-rat (Echimys chrysurus) is a spiny rat species from South America.[4] It is found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana and Suriname. The etymology of the species name derives from the two ancient greek words χρυσός (khrusós), gold, and οὐρά (ourá), animal tail.[5][6] According to genetic analysis, the species is closely related to the dark spiny tree-rat.[7]
Systematics and etymology
The white-faced spiny tree rat was first described by Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann in 1780, who drew upon Jean-Nicolas-Sébastien Allamand's 1778 addition to the Histoire Naturelle[8] titled "Le Lerot à queue dorée". Zimmermann gave the species the scientific name of Myoxus chrysurus and wrote that its type locality was in Suriname. The taxonomy of the white-faced spiny tree rat changed often throughout the 18th and 19th centuries; Allamand initially placed the species in the genus Hystrix, the Old World porcupines, and later authors would assign it to Glis, Loncheres, and Nelomys[9] before the currently accepted name, Echimys chrysurus, was assigned by Heinrich Rudolf Schinz in his 1825 translation of Le Règne Animal.[10]
Description
White-faced spiny tree-rats typically weigh between 415 and 890 grams (14.6 and 31.4 oz) and have a head-body length of 23 to 29 centimetres (9.1 to 11.4 in). Their fur is made up of a mixture of broad, heavy spines and dark hairs that are brown at the tip and gray along the shaft. The fur near the back of the head is often darker than that along the rest of the animal's body.[11]
The main diagnostic character state or trait of this species is the presence of a white stripe on the head. As compared to Echimys vieirai and Echimys saturnus, the fur on the back of the white-faced spiny tree rat is brighter.[12]
References
- ^ Catzeflis, F.; Patton, J. (2016). "Echimys chrysurus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016 e.T6979A22207079. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T6979A22207079.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ^ "Echimys chrysurus (Zimmermann, 1780)". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 10 March 2025.
- ^ "Echimys chrysurus (id=1001401)". ASM Mammal Diversity Database. American Society of Mammalogists. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
- ^ Woods, C.A.; Kilpatrick, C.W. (2005). "Species Echimys chrysurus". 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. 1538–1600. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
- ^ Bailly, Anatole (1981-01-01). Abrégé du dictionnaire grec français. Paris: Hachette. ISBN 2-01-003528-3. OCLC 461974285.
- ^ Bailly, Anatole. "Greek-french dictionary online". www.tabularium.be. Archived from the original on 2022-03-18. Retrieved 2017-11-05.
- ^ Emmons, Louise H.; Fabre, Pierre-henri (2018-03-09). "A Review of the Pattonomys/Toromys Clade (Rodentia: Echimyidae), with Descriptions of a New Toromys Species and a New Genus". American Museum Novitates (3894): 1–52. doi:10.1206/3894.1. ISSN 0003-0082.
- ^ Rookmaaker, L. C. (1992). "J.N.S. Allamand's additions (1769—1781) to the Nouvelle Edition of Buffon's Histoire Naturelle published in Holland". Bijdragen tot de Dierkunde. 61 (3): 131–162. doi:10.1163/26660644-06103001.
- ^ Fabre, Pierre-Henri; Patton, Jim; Leite, Yuri (2016). "Family Echimyidae (Hutias, Coypu and South American Spiny-rats)". In Wilson, D.E.; Lacher, T.E.; Mittermeier, R.A. (eds.). Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Vol. 6. Lagomorphs and Rodents I. Lynx Edicions. p. 633. ISBN 978-84-941892-3-4.
- ^ Cuvier, Georges; Schinz, Heinrich Rudolf (1825). Das Thierreich eingetheilt nach dem Bau der Thiere als Grundlage ihrer Naturgeschichte und der vergleichenden Anatomie (in German). Vol. 4. Zoophyten. p. 387. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.115394 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
- ^ "White-faced tree rat standing on log".
- ^ Iack-Ximenes, Gilson Evaristo; de Vivo, Mario; Percequillo, Alexandre Reis (2005). "A new species of Echimys Cuvier, 1809 (Rodentia, Echimyidae) from Brazil". Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia. 45 (5): 51–60. doi:10.1590/S0031-10492005000500001. ISSN 0031-1049.