The white-spined Atlantic spiny rat (''Trinomys albispinus'') is a spiny rat species

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 ...

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 ...

Description

This is one of the smaller spiny rats, with a head-body length of , and a tail long. Adult weight can be anything from . The fur on the upper body and flanks is tawny to buff, interspersed with much paler (although usually not pure white) spines. The underparts, including the lower surface of the tail, are white. Females are pregnant between January and June, and give birth to litters of up to four young.

Distribution and habitat

''T. albispinus'' is found in a relatively small region of eastern Brazil, in the states of

Sergipe Sergipe (), officially State of Sergipe, is a state of Brazil. Located in the Northeast Region along the Atlantic coast of the country, Sergipe is the smallest state in Brazil by geographical area at , larger only than the Federal District. Serg ...

and

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...

. Compared with other spiny rats, they are adapted for a relatively dry climate, and the region is dominated semi-arid

caatinga Caatinga (, ) is a type of semi-arid tropical vegetation, and an ecoregion characterized by this vegetation in interior northeastern Brazil. The name "Caatinga" is a Tupi word meaning "white forest" or "white vegetation" (''caa'' = forest, v ...

forest with a mix of deciduous trees and

cactus A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...

es, among other plants. Three subspecies are recognised from different parts of this region: * ''T. a. albispinus'' - southern coastal parts of the range * ''T. a. minor'' - inland parts of the range * ''T. a. sertonius'' - northern coastal parts of the range

References

Trinomys Endemic fauna of Brazil Mammals described in 1838 {{Echimyidae-stub