''Thrichomys laurentius'', the Sao Lourenço punaré,
is a
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
n
caviomorph
Caviomorpha is the rodent parvorder that unites all New World hystricognaths. It is supported by both fossil and molecular evidence. The Caviomorpha was for a time considered to be a separate order outside the Rodentia, but is now accepted as ...
rodent of the
spiny rat family.
It was formerly considered a subspecies of ''
T apereoides''.
It is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...
to the northern
Caatinga
Caatinga () is a type of semi-arid tropical vegetation, and an ecoregion characterized by this vegetation in interior northeastern Brazil. The name "Caatinga" comes from the Tupi word '' ka'atinga'', meaning "white forest" or "white vegetat ...
ecoregion
An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...
of northeastern Brazil,
a region of
dry tropical forest and
scrub, at elevations from 15 to 800 m.
Little is known about its population trends and threats.
References
Thrichomys
Fauna of the Caatinga
Rodents of Brazil
Endemic mammals of Brazil
Mammals described in 1904
Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas
{{Echimyidae-stub