''Nephelomys pectoralis'' 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 na ...

in the genus ''

Nephelomys ''Nephelomys'' is a genus of South American oryzomyine rodents found in the Andes from Bolivia to Venezuela, with a westward extension into the mountains of Costa Rica. Its generic name is derived from the Ancient Greek word ''nephelê'' "mist", ...

'' of family Cricetidae. Its type locality is west of the city of

Popayán Popayán () is the capital of the Colombian departments of Colombia, department of Cauca Department, Cauca. It is located in southwestern Colombia between the Cordillera Occidental (Colombia), Western Mountain Range and Cordillera Central (Colo ...

Cauca Department Cauca Department (, es, Departamento del Cauca) is a Department of Southwestern Colombia. Located in the southwestern part of the country, facing the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Valle del Cauca Department to the north, Tolima Department t ...

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 ...

, at an altitude of .Allen, 1912, p. 83 American zoologist Joel Asaph Allen first described it in 1912 on the basis of 112 specimens from several locations in the Cordillera Occidental.Allen, 1912, p. 84 He classified it as a species of ''

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 ...

'', ''Oryzomys pectoralis'', but later subsumed into the species '' Oryzomys albigularis''. When that species was transferred to the new genus ''

'' in 2006, ''N. pectoralis'' was recognized as a separate species.Weksler et al., 2006, p. 18 ''N. pectoralis'' is larger than various other ''Nephelomys'' species, but smaller than '' N. maculiventer''.Allen, 1912, p. 85 Its upperparts are yellowish brown, and at the sides there is a distinct yellow line. Younger specimens may have some black hairs interspersed in the fur of the upperparts. The hairs of the underparts are grey at the bases and white at the tips, but those in a region of variable size on the chest are completely white. The underparts become lighter in color with age. The ears are dark brown and mostly naked. The tail is grayish brown and there is scarcely any difference in color between the upper and lower side. The hindfeet are covered with thin pale hairs. Juvenile individuals are dark brown to blackish, with the underparts dark gray in color, except for the well-defined white patch at the chest. In 41 specimens, the total length ranges from , the head and body length from , the hindfoot length from , and the skull length from .

References

Literature cited

*Allen, J.A. 1912. Mammals from western Colombia. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 31:71-95. *Musser, G.G. and Carleton, M.D. 2005. Superfamily Muroidea. Pp. 894–1531 in Wilson, D.E. and Reeder, D.M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: a taxonomic and geographic reference. 3rd ed. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols., 2142 pp. * {{Taxonbar, from=Q16756171 Nephelomys Mammals described in 1912 Taxa named by Joel Asaph Allen