Thomasomys Auricularis
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''Thomasomys auricularis'' commonly known as the red Andean thomasomys 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 genus ''
Thomasomys ''Thomasomys'' is a genus of rodents in the family Cricetidae, named after British zoologist Oldfield Thomas. Nuclear DNA sequence analysis has indicated that it is a sister taxon to '' Rhagomys''. It contains the following species: * Anderson's ...
'' found in the western
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 ...
of southwestern
Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...
.


Taxonomy

Although described in 1923 by
Harold Elmer Anthony Harold may refer to: People * Harold (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Harold (surname), surname in the English language * András Arató, known in meme culture as "Hide the Pain Harold" Arts ...
, ''T. auricularis'' was treated as synonym or subspecies of '' Thomasomys pyrrhonotus'' until they were identified as a separate species in 2003 and officially recognized in
Mammal Species of the World ''Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference'' is a standard reference work in mammalogy giving descriptions and Bibliographic database, bibliographic data for the known species of mammals. It is now in its third edition, ...
(2005).


Description

''Thomasomys auricularis'' is medium in size for its genus, with a head-body length of . It is characterized by its relatively long tail, moderately long hindfoot, large skull, and large, inflated auditory bullae. Initially it was compared to the similar looking '' T. aureus'' and '' T. pyrrhonotus'' but has a few distinguishing characteristics. The skull is smaller than ''T. aureus.'' The tail is longer than ''T. pyrrhonotus''. The auditory bullae is larger ''T. aureus'' but comparatively smaller than ''T. pyrrhonotus''.


Distribution

The species occurs in ''
Polylepis ''Polylepis'' is a genus comprising 28 recognised shrub and tree species, that are endemic to the mid- and high-elevation regions of the tropical Andes, up to above sea level. It is distributed from Venezuela to Patagonia. In Peru, plants in the ...
'' forest within the
páramo Páramo () may refer to a variety of alpine tundra ecosystems located in the Andes Mountain Range, South America. Some ecologists describe the páramo broadly as "all high, tropical, montane vegetation above the continuous timberline". A narrower ...
and
montane forests Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...
primarily in region 6 and 7 of Ecuador, at medium and high elevations of . There is a distinct population in Cañar that potentially may be a subspecies or separate species.


Status

''Thomasomys auricularis'' is listed as
data deficient A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessaril ...
by the
International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...
in due to a lack of general knowledge.


References

Thomasomys Endemic fauna of Ecuador Mammals of Ecuador Mammals described in 1923 {{Thomasomys-stub