Melanomys zunigae

Melanomys zunigae is an extremely rare or already extinct rodent of the genus of the dark rice rats ( Melanomys ). It comes or came in the Lima Province in Peru before. It is named after the Peruvian zoologist Enrique Zuñiga, who in 1942 collected the type specimens.

Features

The total length is 206-241 mm, tail length 81-105 mm and the Hinterfußlänge 23 to 28 mm. The tail is much shorter than the head and the torso. The back is gray-brown, lighter on the sides and the individual hairs have either a dark brown base and a tip or they are completely gray black from the base to the tip. The abdomen is brown with round shimmering gray hair. The feet and tail are brown.

Status

1942 began the Peruvian zoologist Enrique Zuñiga in the Lomas de Atocongo and at Cerro San Jerónimo 600 to 800 m altitude eight copies of this Reisrattenart that Colin Campbell Sanborn 1949 served as type material for the scientific description. After sporadic expeditions an intensive search operation was carried out between July 2005 and October 2006, but for which no copy could be detected. An unconfirmed report, published in 1990 by the Lomas de Lachay Furthermore, there is. 1996, this taxon has been classified as " not at risk " ( least concern ) was added to the Red List of endangered species in the IUCN. In 2008, this status was in " danger of extinction " by the words " possibly extinct " ( critically endangered ( Possibly Extinct ) ) changed because there has been no conclusive evidence more since 1949. The terra typica to the Lomas de Atocongo and at Cerro San Jerónimo, two mountain regions near the Peruvian capital, Lima, has been severely affected by overgrazing by goats and by mining activities affected. The very specific habitat of this species has been almost completely altered by human activities.