The Colombian rice rat (''Handleyomys intectus''), also known as the white-footed Handley's mouse
is a species of
rodent in the family
Cricetidae occurring only in
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
. It was previously included in ''
Oryzomys
''Oryzomys'' is a genus of semiaquatic rodents in the tribe Oryzomyini living in southern North America and far northern South America. It includes eight species, two of which—the marsh rice rat (''O. palustris'') of the United States and ...
'', but closely resembles the
dusky montane rat, and accordingly both species were placed in the new genus ''Handleyomys'' in 2002.
[
]
Description
This is a medium-sized rat, with adults measuring in head-body length, with a tail of about the same length, and weighing from . The fur is soft and brownish-grey over the most of the body, gradually fading to a grizzled dark grey on the underparts. Unlike its closest relative, the dusky montane rat, the almost-hairless tail has the same dark colour on both upper and lower surfaces, and unlike most other related species, the female has only six teats, instead of eight.
Distribution and habitat
The Colombian rice rat is found only in the Cordillera Central Central Cordillera refers to the New Guinea Highlands.
Cordillera Central, meaning ''central range'' in Spanish, may refer to the following mountain ranges:
* Cordillera Central, Andes (disambiguation), several mountain ranges in South America
** ...
in northwestern Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
, from Antioquia Department
)
, anthem = Himno de Antioquia
, image_map = Antioquia in Colombia (mainland).svg
, map_alt =
, map_caption = Antioquia shown in red
, image_ma ...
in the north to Valle del Cauca Department in the south. It inhabits cloud forest
A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud c ...
s and neighbouring cropland and pasture between elevation, an environment that is typically cold but very humid.[
]
Biology and behaviour
The species is nocturnal and travels on the forest floor rather than climbing trees.[ Little is known of its biology, but young have been identified in both the dry and rainy seasons.][
]
References
Endemic fauna of Colombia
Mammals of Colombia
Handleyomys
Mammals described in 1921
Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
{{Sigmodontinae-stub