Dusky Rice Rat
Encyclopedia
Melanomys caliginosus, also known as the Dusky Melanomys or Dusky Rice Rat, is a species of rodent
in the genus Melanomys
of family Cricetidae
. It is found from Central America, in Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama, into South America, where it occurs in Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador. Populations currently classified under M. caliginosus may in fact include more than one species.
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 Melanomys
Melanomys
Melanomys is a genus of rodent in the tribe Oryzomyini of family Cricetidae, which is distributed in northern South America and adjacent Central America. It contains three species, two of which—Melanomys robustulus and Melanomys zunigae—have limited distributions...
of family Cricetidae
Cricetidae
The Cricetidae are a family of rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. It includes true hamsters, voles, lemmings, and New World rats and mice...
. It is found from Central America, in Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama, into South America, where it occurs in Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador. Populations currently classified under M. caliginosus may in fact include more than one species.
Literature cited
- Anderson, R.P., Gómez-Laverde, M. and Timm, R. 2008. . In IUCN. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on November 15, 2009.
- 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