The Paraguayan bolo mouse or Paraguayan akodont (''Necromys lenguarum'') 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 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 ...

. According to the

IUCN 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 ...

, it is present in

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

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 ...

, and

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

, and possibly also 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

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. It is found at elevations from in a variety of habitats, including

cerrado The ''Cerrado'' (, ) is a vast ecoregion of tropical savanna in eastern Brazil, particularly in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Minas Gerais, and the Federal District. The core areas of the Cerrado biome are t ...

, chaco, and

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...

pampas.

Taxonomy

The taxonomic status of this species is unclear. It was at one time thought to be a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of the

dark bolo mouse The dark bolo mouse or dark-furred akodont (''Necromys obscurus'') is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. There are two subspecies; one (ssp. ''scagliarum'') is found in eastern and central parts of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, an ...

''N. obscurus'', and some authorities consider it to be a synonym of '' N. lasiurus''.

Mitochondrial DNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial D ...

analysis supports it being a species in its own right, but the precise range occupied by each species has not been elucidated.

Description

The Paraguayan bolo mouse is a medium-sized species, being about long including a tail of . The upper surface of head and body is dark grey, and the rump ochre-grey. The flanks are paler and the underparts are white, sometimes with a yellowish tinge. The tail is black above and white below, and the hands and feet have uniformly grey upper surfaces.

Distribution

According to J. L. Patton, the Paraguayan bolo mouse is native to southeastern Peru, western Paraguay, and southwestern Brazil. Reported sightings from eastern Bolivia and

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 Argentine Northwest, northwest Argentina. Also, it is the seat of the Doctor Manuel Belgrano Depa ...

and Chaco provinces in northern Argentina need re-evaluation because they may be of the much more widespread ''N. lasiurus''.

Status

The Paraguayan bolo mouse is a common species with a wide range. It is assumed to have a large total population and is capable of tolerating disturbance to its habitat such as clearance of vegetation for cattle ranching. 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=Q1765684 Mammals of Argentina Necromys Mammals described in 1898 Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas