''Neusticomys'' 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 ...

semiaquatic In biology, being semi-aquatic refers to various macroorganisms that live regularly in both aquatic and terrestrial environments. When referring to animals, the term describes those that actively spend part of their daily time in water (in ...

, animalivorous

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

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 in the family

Cricetidae The Cricetidae are a family of rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. It includes true hamsters, voles, lemmings, muskrats, and New World rats and mice. At over 870 species, it is either the largest or second-largest family ...

. The term ''Neusticomys'' derives from the two

ancient greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

words (), meaning "able to swim", and (), meaning "mouse, rat". ''N. monticolous'' and ''N. vossi'' primarily inhabit montante regions of west Columbia and eastern Ecuador, with the former noted to occur in the Andean Cordillera and the Occidental mountain range at elevations of 1,800-3,750 meters. The rest inhabit tropical lowland forests primarily in the northern and eastern regions of the Amazon rainforest, whereas ''N. peruviensis'' is an endemic species to Peru. This genus contains the following threespecies: *

Montane fish-eating rat The montane fish-eating rat (''Neusticomys monticolus'') is a species of semiaquatic rodent in the family Cricetidae. It inhabits the Andes Mountains of Colombia and Ecuador. Description Montane fish-eating rats are moderately sized rodents, w ...

(''N. monticolus'') — Anthony, 1921 *

Las Cajas water mouse The Las Cajas water mouse (''Neusticomys orcesi'') is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is endemic to the Cajas National Park in Ecuador. Its natural habitat is the high grassland (páramo) of the park, where it lives near streams, ...

(''N. orcesi'') — (P. D. Jenkins & Barnett, 1997) * Voss' fish-eating rat (''N. vossi'') — (Hanson, D’Elía, Ayers, Cox, Burneo & Lee, 2015)

Distribution

References

Rodent genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Sigmodontinae-stub