''Nephelomys pirrensis'', also known as the Mount Pirre rice rat,Goldman, 1920, p. 100 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 at Mount Pirri or Pirre in eastern

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

, at an altitude of ,Goldman, 1913, p. 5 and it has also been recorded on

Mount Tacarcuna Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

. ''N. pirrensis'' is a relatively large species. The color of the upperparts is brown and becomes lighter towards the sides. The throat is gray and the other parts of the underparts are buffy. The nose, ears, and forefeet are blackish and the thinly haired hindfeet are dark brown. The tail is dark brown above and a little paler below.Goldman, 1913, p. 6 Juveniles have darker fur. It is similar in size to '' N. devius'', which occurs further west in

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

, but is somewhat darker and has smaller auditory bullae. In six specimens, the total length ranges from , the length of the tail

vertebra The spinal column, a defining synapomorphy shared by nearly all vertebrates,Hagfish are believed to have secondarily lost their spinal column is a moderately flexible series of vertebrae (singular vertebra), each constituting a characteristic ...

e from , and the hindfoot length from . It lives in holes under rocks and logs along streams. Several specimens were caught in animal runways. On Mount Tacarcuna, it occurs together with the much more common ''

Isthmomys pirrensis The Mount Pirri isthmus rat (''Isthmomys pirrensis'') is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is found only in Panama. At the time of its discovery, it was conside ...

'', which is similar in appearance, but has longer ears and a hairier tail. It was first described, in 1913, as a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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 pirrensis'', but later synonymized under ''Oryzomys albigularis'' (currently ''

Nephelomys albigularis ''Nephelomys albigularis'', also known as the white-throated oryzomys or Tomes's rice rat, is a species of rodent in the genus '' Nephelomys'' of family Cricetidae. Described in 1860, it was the first ''Nephelomys'' species to be discovered. It w ...

''). When that species was transferred to the new genus ''

'' in 2006, ''N. nimbosus'' was recognized as a separate species.Weksler et al., 2006, p. 18

References

Literature cited

*Goldman, E.A. 1913. Descriptions of new mammals from Panama and Mexico. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 60(22):1–20. *Goldman, E.A. 1918. The rice rats of North America. North American Fauna 43:1–100. *Goldman, E.A. 1920. The mammals of Panama. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 69(5):1–309. *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=Q6995005 Rodents of Central America Nephelomys Mammals described in 1913 Taxa named by Edward Alphonso Goldman