Golden Vizcacha Rat
| Golden Vizcacha Rat | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Subphylum: | Vertebrata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Suborder: | Hystricomorpha |
| Superfamily: | Octodontoidea |
| Family: | Octodontidae |
| Tribe: | Octodontini |
| Genus: | Pipanacoctomys Mares, Braun, Barquez, and Díaz, 2000 |
| Species: | P. aureus |
| Binomial name | |
| Pipanacoctomys aureus Mares, Braun, Barquez, and Díaz, 2000 |
|
The Golden Vizcacha Rat (Pipanacoctomys aureus) is the single species of the genus Pipanacoctomys of the rodent family Octodontidae.[2] This animal is tetraploid and has 4x = 2n = 92 chromosomes.[3] This species and its sister-species Tympanoctomys barrerae (4x = 102) appear to have arisen from the diploid Mountain Vizcacha Rat, Octomys mimax[3] (2x = 2n = 56) as a result of doubling and then loss of some chromosomes.
The species is known from Catamarca Province of northwestern Argentina, where specimens are known only from the Salar de Pipanaco, a salt flat. It feeds on halophyte plants.[4] The genus is named after the locale, with “octo” being a reference to the figure-eight ridge on its cheek tooth.
It is threatened by conversion of its very restricted habitat to agricultural use.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Lessa, E., Ojeda, R. & Bidau, C. (2008). Pipanacoctomys aureus. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 5 January 2009.
- ^ Woods, Charles A.; Kilpatrick, C. William (16 November 2005). "Infraorder Hystricognathi (pp. 1538-1600)". In Wilson, Don E., and Reeder, DeeAnn M., eds. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols. (2142 pp.). pp. 1572-1573. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3/browse.asp?id=13400381.
- ^ a b Gallardo, M. H. et al. (2004). Whole-genome duplications in South American desert rodents (Octodontidae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 82, 443-451.
- ^ Mares, Michael A. (1 November 2003), "Desert dreams: seeking the secret mammals of the salt pans - Naturalist at Large", Natural History, http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1134/is_9_112/ai_110737005/
- Mares, M. A.; Braun, J. K.; Barquez, R. M.; Díaz, M. M. 2000. Two new genera and species of halophytic desert mammals from isolated salt flats in Argentina. Occasional Papers, Museum of Texas Tech University 203:i+1-27.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
This article about a rodent is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
