O'Connell's spiny-rat (''Proechimys oconnelli'') 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 terres ...

. 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 ...

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. oconnelli'' belongs to the so-called ''semispinosus'' group of ''Proechimys'' species, and shares closer phylogenetic affinities with the other member of this clade: '' P. semispinosus''.

References

Proechimys Endemic fauna of Colombia Mammals of Colombia Mammals described in 1913 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Echimyidae-stub