Thomasomys ucucha
| Thomasomys ucucha | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Cricetidae |
| Genus: | Thomasomys |
| Species: | T. ucucha |
| Binomial name | |
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Thomasomys ucucha Voss, 2003 |
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Thomasomys ucucha, also known as the ucucha thomasomys, is a rodent in the genus Thomasomys of the family Cricetidae. Found only in the Cordillera Oriental of Ecuador, a mountain range, it lives in forests and grasslands at 3,380 to 3,720 m (11,090 to 12,200 ft) above sea level. It may occur with seven other species of Thomasomys. First collected in 1903, Thomasomys ucucha was formally described in 2003 and most closely resembles T. hylophilus, which occurs further to the north. Habitat destruction may threaten T. ucucha, so that it is listed as "Vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List.
Medium-sized, dark-furred, and long-tailed, Thomasomys ucucha can be distinguished from all other species of Thomasomys by its large, broad, upper incisors. Head and body length is 94 to 119 mm (3.7 to 4.7 in) and body mass is 24 to 46 g (0.85 to 1.62 oz). The tail is scarcely furred. The front part of the skull is flat, short, and broad. The incisive foramina, openings at the front of the palate, are short, and the palate itself is broad and smooth. The root of the lower incisor is contained in a prominent capsular process.
The first three specimens of Thomasomys ucucha were collected in 1903 at Tablón in Pichincha Province, Ecuador, by L. Söderström. It was not found again until Robert S. Voss of the American Museum of Natural History collected a total of forty-three specimens at nearby Papallacta, Napo Province, in 1978 and 1980. Papallacta is in a remote area that is difficult to access, and the mammal fauna of the region remains poorly known. In 2003, he formally described the animal as a new species, Thomasomys ucucha, in a publication in American Museum Novitates in which he also reviewed the mammal fauna of Papallacta. The generic name, Thomasomys, honors English zoologist Oldfield Thomas, who named about 2,900 taxa of mammals, and the specific name, ucucha, is the local Quechua word for "mouse".T. ucucha most closely resembles T. hylophilus, which is found further north in Colombia and Venezuela. Both are members of Thomasomys, a diverse genus that occurs in the northern Andes, from Bolivia to Venezuela. Together with Rhipidomys and a few other, smaller genera, Thomasomys forms the tribe Thomasomyini, which includes over fifty species found in South America and Panama. Thomasomyini in turn is part of the subfamily Sigmodontinae of the family Cricetidae, along with hundreds of other species of mainly small rodents.
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