''For Asian bamboo rats (family:

Spalacidae The Spalacidae, or spalacids, are a family of rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. They are native to eastern Asia, the Horn of Africa, the Middle East, and southeastern Europe. It includes the blind mole-rats, bamboo rats, m ...

), see

Bamboo rat The bamboo rats are four species of rodents of the subfamily Rhizomyinae. They are the sole living representatives of the tribe Rhizomyini. All are found in South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia. The species are: *The Chinese bamboo rat, ''R ...

.'' The Amazon bamboo rat (''Dactylomys dactylinus'') is a species of spiny rat from the Amazon Basin of South America.Pearson, David L., and Les Beletsky. Travellers' Wildlife Guides: Peru. Northampton: Interlink. (2008) It is also referred to as coro-coro, Toró, Rato-do-Bambú, or Rata del Bambú in different parts of its range. The bamboo rat prefers to reside in areas of dense vegetation, such as clumps of

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...

or in the

canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an ...

. It is an

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally, but others are exclusively arboreal. The habitats pose nu ...

browser, consuming primarily leaves and spending much of its time off the ground. Because the Amazon bamboo rat spends most of its time in heavily forested areas, it is difficult to observe, and not much is known about its habits.

Physical characteristics

The Amazon bamboo rat has a body length of over from the nose to the tip of the tail, and weighs approximately . The rat has a stout appearance, olive-grey fur streaked with black, and a tail with short, fine hairs. It has elongated digits, which are an adaptation for the rat's frequent need to climb, hence the species name: ''dactylinus'' derives from the

ancient greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

word (), meaning "finger". Its paws are covered with hundreds of bumps called

tubercles In anatomy, a tubercle (literally 'small tuber', Latin for 'lump') is any round nodule, small eminence, or warty outgrowth found on external or internal organs of a plant or an animal. In plants A tubercle is generally a wart-like projection, ...

to aid in climbing. Despite being nocturnal, the Amazon bamboo rat has weak

eyeshine The ''tapetum lucidum'' ( ; ; ) is a layer of tissue in the eye of many vertebrates and some other animals. Lying immediately behind the retina, it is a retroreflector. It reflects visible light back through the retina, increasing the light a ...

. The bamboo rat may benefit from weak eyeshine because it makes the rat more difficult to detect in the canopy, and because the rat moves so slowly that it does not require as much light. It has horizontally slit

pupil The pupil is a black hole located in the center of the Iris (anatomy), iris of the Human eye, eye that allows light to strike the retina.Cassin, B. and Solomon, S. (1990) ''Dictionary of Eye Terminology''. Gainesville, Florida: Triad Publishing ...

s, similar to those of a

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

, to aid in its occasional diurnal activity. Like other arboreal browsers, the Amazon bamboo rat has

scent gland Scent gland are exocrine glands found in most mammals. They produce semi-viscous secretions which contain pheromones and other semiochemical compounds. These odor-messengers indicate information such as status, territorial marking, mood, and s ...

s which it uses to mark its territory.

Behavior

Due to the restricted diet of

folivore In zoology, a folivore is a herbivore that specializes in eating leaves. Mature leaves contain a high proportion of hard-to-digest cellulose, less energy than other types of foods, and often toxic compounds.Jones, S., Martin, R., & Pilbeam, D. (1 ...

s, many of them move slowly to avoid wasting energy. The Amazon bamboo rat's slow and cautious manner of climbing has the added effect of making its movements completely silent, helping to protect it from

predators Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

. Because the rat moves so slowly, its displacement may only reach 62 meters (about 203 feet) in a single night. If a bamboo rat is quietly approached, it will back away slowly and silently; however, the rat is capable of disappearing swiftly into the

foliage A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, s ...

if necessary. This behavior allows the rodent to minimize its energy usage.

Diet

The Amazon bamboo rat is a small

. It consumes only plants that are easily digested, in order to conserve energy. The bamboo rat primarily consumes young leaves, stems, and petioles. Because of its limited diet of bamboo and local vines, it is more abundant in regions of Latin America where its preferred food sources are plentiful.

Social

The Amazon bamboo rat is nocturnal, emitting its shrill

cry Crying is the dropping of tears (or welling of tears in the eyes) in response to an emotional state, or pain. Emotions that can lead to crying include sadness, anger, and even happiness. The act of crying has been defined as "a complex secreto ...

throughout the night to communicate its presence to other bamboo rats. The bamboo rat's call consists of several explosive, low frequency pulses, as well as grunts of low amplitude, which may indicate alarm or serve to communicate with other rats.LaVal, Richard K. (1976) Voice and Habitat of ''Dactylomys dactylinus'' (Rodentia: Echimyidae) in Ecuador. Journal of Mammalogy 57:2, 402-404. The Amazon bamboo rat has been observed to travel in pairs, commonly consisting of one male and one female. Because the bamboo rat has not been studied in great detail, not much is known regarding its mating habits.

Distribution

The Amazon bamboo rat lives in dense rainforest vegetation. There is also a report of its presence in a

gallery forest A gallery forest is one formed as a corridor along rivers or wetlands, projecting into landscapes that are otherwise only sparsely treed such as savannas, grasslands, or deserts. The gallery forest maintains a more temperate microclimate above th ...

in the

cerrado The ''Cerrado'' (, ) is a vast ecoregion of tropical savanna in eastern Brazil, particularly in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Minas Gerais, and the Federal District. The core areas of the Cerrado biome are the ...

. It can be found in much of the Amazon Basin, in parts of Bolivia,

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, Colombia,

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

, and

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

.Bezerra, Alexandra, Nelson Da Silva, Jr., and Jader Marinho-Filho
The Amazon Bamboo Rat ''Dactylomys dactylinus'' in the Cerrado of Central Brazil.
Biotaneo Tropica. Biota Neotropica. (29 March 2007). 10 April 2011.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q646000 Dactylomys Mammals of Bolivia Mammals of Brazil Mammals of Colombia Mammals of Ecuador Mammals of Peru Fauna of the Amazon Mammals described in 1817