Darwin's Rice Rat
Encyclopedia
Nesoryzomys darwini, also known as Darwin's Nesoryzomys or Darwin's Galápagos Mouse, is a species of rodent
in the genus Nesoryzomys
that lived on Santa Cruz Island
in the Galápagos Islands
. It was probably nocturnal and inhabited burrows or rock crevices under bushes. Only four specimens exist, collected by Frank Wonder between 12 and 16 January 1929. This extinction may have been caused by competition and disease created by the introduction of nonnative brown and black rats.
The other Nesoryzomys known from Santa Cruz, Nesoryzomys indefessus, is also extinct there; other species of the genus survive on different islands.
Rodent
Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....
in the genus Nesoryzomys
Nesoryzomys
Nesoryzomys is a genus of rodent in the tribe Oryzomyini of family Cricetidae, endemic to the Galápagos Islands. Other rodents restricted to the Galápagos include Megaoryzomys curioi and Aegialomys galapagoensis.-References:...
that lived on Santa Cruz Island
Santa Cruz Island (Galápagos)
Santa Cruz Island is one of the Galápagos Islands with an area of and a maximum altitude of .Situated in the center of the archipelago, Santa Cruz is the second largest island after Isabela. Its capital is Puerto Ayora, the most populated urban centre in the islands. On Santa Cruz there are some...
in the Galápagos Islands
Galápagos Islands
The Galápagos Islands are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed around the equator in the Pacific Ocean, west of continental Ecuador, of which they are a part.The Galápagos Islands and its surrounding waters form an Ecuadorian province, a national park, and a...
. It was probably nocturnal and inhabited burrows or rock crevices under bushes. Only four specimens exist, collected by Frank Wonder between 12 and 16 January 1929. This extinction may have been caused by competition and disease created by the introduction of nonnative brown and black rats.
The other Nesoryzomys known from Santa Cruz, Nesoryzomys indefessus, is also extinct there; other species of the genus survive on different islands.
Literature cited
- Dowler, R.C., Carroll, D.S. and Edwards, C.W. 2000. Rediscovery of rodents (Genus Nesoryzomys) considered extinct in the Galápagos Islands. Oryx 34(2):109–118. ISSN 0030-6053
- Duff, A. and Lawson, A. 2004. Mammals of the World: A checklist. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 312 pp. ISBN 071366021X
- Flannery, T. and Schouten, P. 2001. A Gap in Nature: Discovering the World's Extinct Animals. Atlantic Monthly Press, New York. ISBN 0-87113-797-6
- Musser, G.G. and Carleton, M.D. 2005. Superfamily Muroidea. Pp. 894–1531 in Wilson, D.E. and Reeder, D.M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: a taxonomic and geographic reference. 3rd ed. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols., 2142 pp. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0
- Tirira, D., Dowler, R., Boada, C. and Weksler, M. 2008. . In IUCN. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on December 8, 2009.