''Chelemys delfini'', also known as the Magellanic long-clawed akodont,Musser and Carleton, 2005, p. 1109 is a species of

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are n ...

in the genus ''

Chelemys ''Chelemys'' is a genus of South American rodents in the tribe Abrotrichini of family Cricetidae. Three species—'' Chelemys delfini'', '' Chelemys macronyx'', and '' Chelemys megalonyx''—are known, all found in central and southern Chile and A ...

'' of family

Cricetidae The Cricetidae are a family of rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. It includes true hamsters, voles, lemmings, muskrats, and New World rats and mice. At almost 608 species, it is the second-largest family of mammals, and h ...

. It is endemic to the areas of

Punta Arenas Punta Arenas (; historically Sandy Point in English) is the capital city of Chile's southernmost region, Magallanes and Antarctica Chilena. The city was officially renamed as Magallanes in 1927, but in 1938 it was changed back to "Punta Are ...

and

Torres del Paine National Park Torres del Paine National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Torres del Paine) is a national park encompassing mountains, glaciers, lakes, and rivers in southern Chilean Patagonia. The Cordillera del Paine is the centerpiece of the park. It lies in a tr ...

in southern

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

, where it lives in the

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses ( Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur na ...

and scrub of the Magellanic steppe. It has sometimes been considered a subspecies of '' C. megalonyx''.

References

Literature cited

*D'Elia, G. and Pardinas, U. 2008. . In IUCN. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.2.
www.iucnredlist.org
. Downloaded on January 12, 2010. * Mammals of Chile Chelemys Mammals described in 1905 {{Sigmodontinae-stub