The Punta de Vacas leaf-eared mouse (''Phyllotis vaccarum'') is a species of

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 ...

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 ...

. It is found on Andean mountains in Argentina and Chile. Although these mountaintops have no vegetation and mummified remains of mice have long been assumed to be transported there by people, live specimens have been caught as high as above sea level. Also, dating of the mouse remains shows them to be too new to be from

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 ...

n era burials, and genetic analysis points to these mice as being part of populations rather than being brought from afar. The range of this species also extends to lower elevations, at least as low as 3651 meters.

References

Phyllotis Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas Mammals described in 1912 {{Phyllotis-stub