Oryzomys peninsulae

Oryzomys peninsulae
Skull, seen from above, on a black background, with the number "8" next to it. On the braincase, the number 146618 and the female symbol are written.
Skull of Oryzomys peninsulae, seen from above[1]

Critically endangered, possibly extinct  (IUCN 3.1)[2]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Cricetidae
Subfamily: Sigmodontinae
Genus: Oryzomys
Species:
O. peninsulae
Binomial name
Oryzomys peninsulae
Thomas, 1897
Map of western Mexico with a green mark on the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula, an orange mark off the coast of Nayarit, a pink area inland in the southwest, and a red area along the Pacific coast north to Sonora.
Distribution of Oryzomys peninsulae (in dark green) and other western Mexican Oryzomys
Synonyms[3]
  • Oryzomys peninsulæ Thomas, 1897[fn 1]
  • Oryzomys palustris peninsulae: Hershkovitz, 1970
  • Oryzomys couesi peninsularis: Alvarez-Castañeda, 1994[fn 2]
  • Oryzomys couesi peninsulae: Alvarez-Castañeda and Cortés-Calva, 1999

Oryzomys peninsulae, also known as the Lower California rice rat,[4] is a species of rodent from western Mexico. Restricted to the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula, it is a member of the genus Oryzomys of family Cricetidae. Only about twenty individuals, collected around 1900, are known, and subsequent destruction of its riverine habitat may have driven the species to extinction.

Medium in size for its genus, it was first described as a separate species, but later lumped into other, widespread species until it was reinstated as separate in 2009. It is distinctive in fur color—grayish brown on the forequarters and reddish brown on the hindquarters—and in some dimensions of its skull, with a high braincase, robust zygomatic arches (cheekbones), and long incisive foramina (perforations of the palate between the incisors and the molars).

  1. ^ Goldman, 1918, plate I
  2. ^ Carleton and Arroyo-Cabrales, 2009, p. 115
  3. ^ Carleton and Arroyo-Cabrales, 2009, p. 122
  4. ^ Goldman, 1918, p. 45


Cite error: There are <ref group=fn> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=fn}} template (see the help page).


© MMXXIII Rich X Search. We shall prevail. All rights reserved. Rich X Search