Ctenomys torquatus Lichtenstein 1830

Ctenomys torquatus Lichtenstein 1830, Darst. Saugeth.: text of pl. 31.

Type Locality: Brazil, S provinces, and banks of Uruguay River. See Moojen (1952:188).

Vernacular Names: Collared Tuco-tuco.

Distribution: Uruguay, NE Argentina, extreme S Brazil.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc). Endangered from stripe coal mining (Freitas, 1995).

Discussion: Considered a distinct species by Ellerman (1940) and Nowak (1999); but see Cabrera (1961:547) who provisionally included it in brasiliensis . Although six different karyotypes attributed to C. torquatus have been reported (Freitas and Lessa, 1984; Kiblisky et al., 1977; Reig et al., 1966), two of those (2n=56 and 70) were from populations currently recognized as C. pearsoni (Novello and Lessa, 1986) . Populations of C. torquatus from S Brazil and N Uruguay have 2n=44-46 (FN=72) and populations from S Uruguay and NE Argentina have 2n=64 or 68 (FN=96); see Freitas and Lessa (1984).