''Holochilus chacarius'', also known as the Chacoan marsh ratMusser, G. G. and M. D. Carleton. 2005. Superfamily Muroidea. pp. 894–1531 ''in'' Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. or Chaco marsh rat, is a

semiaquatic In biology, semiaquatic can refer to various types of animals that spend part of their time in water, or plants that naturally grow partially submerged in water. Examples are given below. Semiaquatic animals Semiaquatic animals include: * Verte ...

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 na ...

species in the 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 has m ...

. It is found in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

within the

Gran Chaco The Gran Chaco or Dry Chaco is a sparsely populated, hot and semiarid lowland natural region of the Río de la Plata basin, divided among eastern Bolivia, western Paraguay, northern Argentina, and a portion of the Brazilian states of Mato Gro ...

Description

This marsh rat is one of the smallest in the genus. The head-and-body length is between and the tail length is between . The dorsal pelage is pale reddish-brown, with long black guard hairs, the flanks are buff or ochre, the throat and chest are white and the rest of the underparts are buff or grey, the hairs having white bases.

Distribution and habitat

The Chaco marsh rat is native to Paraguay and the notheasten part of Argentina, being present in the provinces of

Salta Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Argentine province of the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the 7th most-populous city in Argentina. The city serves as the cultural and economic ce ...

Jujuy San Salvador de Jujuy (), commonly known as Jujuy and locally often referred to as San Salvador, is the capital and largest city of Jujuy Province in northwest Argentina. Also, it is the seat of the Doctor Manuel Belgrano Department. It lies near ...

, Tucumán,

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territorie ...

, Chaco and Córdoba. It is a semi-aquatic species and is found in swamps and other areas of wetland, flooded pasture and cultivated fields, but seldom in forested habitats. In Paraguay it inhabits ground well covered in leaf litter and herbaceous plants.

Ecology

The Chaco marsh rat can swim and dive, and can also climb well; it is a

herbivore A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthpart ...

, feeding on a range of plant materials including sugarcane, rice, banana and other crops. It can make underground galleries with several entrances, but nests above ground, building circular structures of grass up to in diameter and often a metre or more above the ground. Litter sizes range from four to nine, and the young mature at sixty days.

Status

The Chaco marsh rat is common in some areas and less so in others. The overall population is thought to be declining, but the rat has a wide range and is present in a number of protected areas, so the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has assessed its conservation status as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q306406 Holochilus Mammals of Argentina Mammals of Paraguay Mammals described in 1906 Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas Taxonomy articles created by Polbot