| Oryzomys
curasoae
|
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| |
| Kingdom |
Animalia |
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|
| Phylum |
Chordata |
| Class |
Mammalia |
| Order |
Rodentia
|
| Family |
Cricetidae
|
| Genus |
Oryzomys |
| Species |
Oryzomys
curasoae |
| Authority |
McFarlane
& Debrot, 2001 |
| |
| TEW
Status |
Extinct (EX), Year assessed: 2009 |
| IUCN
Status |
Data
Deficient (DD), Year assessed: 2008 |
| |
| English
Name |
Curaçao
Rice Rat |
| Dutch
Name |
Curaçao
Rijstrat |
| German
Name |
Curacao-Reisratte |
| |
| Taxonomy |
The
species was originally described, in 2001, as a member of
"subgenus" Oecomys, but it has been retained in the genus
Oryzomys in recent studies. There is uncertainty
about the taxonomy of this species. It may be conspecific with the extant Oryzomys
gorgasi (Gorgas's Rice Rat) from mainland Colombia and
Venezuela. (Weksler,
Percequillo & Voss, 2006; Lamoreux, 2008) |
| |
| Characteristics |
The
Curaçao Rice Rat has a broad skull with a distinctly more robust rostrum
and lacking tapered the Oryzomys-profile (McFarlane
& Debrot 2001) |
| |
| Range
& Habitat |
 This
species is endemic to the island of Curaçao (Netherlands Antilles, Kingdom
of the Netherlands), in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan
coast. (McFarlane & Debrot 2001; Lamoreux, 2008).
Image: map showing the location of the
island of Curaçao. Created
by Peter Maas for The Extinction Website. This image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution
ShareAlike 3.0 License.
This applies worldwide.
|
| |
| History
& Population |
The
Curaçao Rice Rat is only known from subfossil remains. It was found with
the Black Rat (Rattus rattus), which implies that it became extinct
after the first European contact with Curaçao in 1499. (McFarlane
& Debrot 2001; Lamoreux,
2008; Wikipedia contributors, 2009) |
| |
| Extinction
Causes |
Black
Rat (Rattus rattus) remains were found together with those of the
Curaçao Rice Rat suggesting that the introduced Black Rat may have played
a role in its demise. (Lamoreux,
2008)
|
| |
| Museum
Specimens |
Subfossil
remains the Curaçao Rice Rat are kept in de collections of Natural
History Museum of Los Angeles County (LACM) in California (USA) and the
Zoological Museum of Amsterdam (ZMA) in the Netherlands. (McFarlane &
Debrot 2001) |
| |
| Relatives |
This
species may be conspecific with Gorgas's Rice Rat (Oryzomys gorgasi)
(Weksler,
Percequillo & Voss, 2006; Lamoreux, 2008).
If this this mainland species from Colombia and Venezuela is distinct from
the insular Curaçao Rice Rat,
than the Gorgas's Rice Rat is most likely its closest living relative
(Weksler,
Percequillo & Voss, 2006). |
| |
| Links |
Curaçao Rice Rat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
|
| |
|
References
(Complete
website)
|
Lamoreux,
J. (2008). Oryzomys curasoae. In: IUCN 2009. IUCN Red List of
Threatened Species. Version 2009.1. <www.iucnredlist.org>.
Downloaded on 29 August 2009.
McFarlane, D.A. & Debrot, A.O.
(2001). A new species of extinct oryzomyine rodent from the Quaternary of
Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles. Caribbean Journal of Science
37(3-4):182-184.
Weksler, M., Percequillo, A.R.
& Voss, R.S. (2006). Ten new genera of oryzomyine rodents (Cricetidae:
Sigmodontinae). American Museum Novitates 3537:1-29.
Wikipedia contributors (2009),
"Curaçao Rice Rat," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cura%C3%A7ao_Rice_Rat&oldid=292092937
(accessed 29 August 2009).
|
|
Last
updated: 30th August 2009.
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page is a part of The
Extinction Website.
© 2000-2009. |