The Minca spiny rat (''Proechimys mincae'') 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
Echimyidae
Echimyidae is the family of neotropical spiny rats and their fossil relatives. This is the most species-rich family of hystricognath rodents. It is probably also the most ecologically diverse, with members ranging from fully arboreal to terr ...
.
It is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to
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 ...
.
Phylogeny
Morphological characters and mitochondrial cytochrome b DNA sequences showed that ''P. mincae'' belongs to the so-called ''trinitatus'' group of ''Proechimys'' species, and shares closer phylogenetic affinities with the other members of this clade: ''
P. trinitatus'', ''
P. guairae'', ''
P. poliopus'', ''
P. magdalenae'', ''
P. chrysaeolus'', ''
P. urichi'', and ''
P. hoplomyoides''.
References
Proechimys
Endemic fauna of Colombia
Mammals of Colombia
Mammals described in 1899
Taxa named by Joel Asaph Allen
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
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