''Cuscomys'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...

s found in the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

Cusco Cusco or Cuzco (; or , ) is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountain range and the Huatanay river. It is the capital of the eponymous Cusco Province, province and Cusco Region, department. The city was the cap ...

in southern

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. These relatively large

chinchilla rat Chinchilla rats or ''chinchillones'' are rodents of the family Abrocomidae. This family has few members compared to most rodent families, with only nine known living species. They resemble chinchillas in appearance, with a similar soft fur and s ...

s are dark grey with a distinct white line running from the crown to the nose. The genus was coined in 1999 when ''C. ashaninka'' was scientifically described,Emmons, L. H. (1999). ''A new genus and species of abrocomid rodent from Peru (Rodentia: Abrocomidae).'' American Museum Novitates 3279: 1-14. but later it was discovered that ''C. oblativus'', a species traditionally placed in the genus ''

Abrocoma ''Abrocoma'' is a genus of Abrocomidae, abrocomid rodents found in the Andes of South America, from southern Peru to central Chile. The genus contains eight species, most of which are found in isolated mountain ranges in northwestern Argentina. T ...

'', actually belonged in ''Cuscomys''. They are very poorly known, as ''C. ashaninka'' only is known from the

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

, while ''C. oblativus'' usually has been considered

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

, as it was only known from remains found in 1912, buried alongside people in ancient

Inca The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...

tombs at the

Machu Picchu Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru on a mountain ridge at . Often referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas", it is the most familiar icon of the Inca Empire. It is located in the ...

ruins. However, photos of a rodent taken at the ruins in late 2009 likely show this species.Castillo, G. M. (2009).
Detectan en Cusco a roedor declarado extinto
'. El Comercio (Peru). 12 August 2009. It is unclear if the ''Cuscomys'' truly are extremely rare, as they may be easily overlooked due to their remote distributions and

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally (scansorial), but others are exclusively arboreal. The hab ...

habits.

Species

*'' Cuscomys ashaninka'' – Asháninka Arboreal Chinchilla Rat *'' Cuscomys oblativus'' – Machu Picchu Arboreal Chinchilla Rat

References

Rodent genera Taxa named by Louise H. Emmons {{rodent-stub