Euryoryzomys nitidus (Thomas, 1884)

Don E. Wilson, Russell A. Mittermeier & Thomas E. Lacher, Jr, 2017, Cricetidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 7 Rodents II, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 204-535 : 425

408.

Elegant Rice Rat

Euryoryzomys nitidus

French: Oryzomys élégant / German: Elegante Reisratte / Spanish: Rata arrocera elegante

Other common names: Elegant Euryoryzomys

Taxonomy. Hesperomys laticeps, var. nitidus Thomas, 1884 , “Junin and Amable Maria.”

Clarified by A. L. Gardner and J. L. Patton in 1976 as “Amable Maria ... small community in the Tulumayo Valley about 10 kilometers south of San Ramon,” Junin, Peru. This species is monotypic.

Distribution. SW Amazon Basin, including E & SE Peru, SW Brazil, and N & E Bolivia.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 108-163 mm, tail 113-160 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. The Elegant Rice Rat is medium-sized. Dorsal fur is short and close, bright tawny or tawny brown, with ocherous highlights along flanks; underparts are whitish gray; and tail is unicolored. Skull is elongated, with narrow interorbital region; presence of alisphenoid strut is variable; incisive foramina is long and narrow, and bony palate is short. Paraflexus and medial fossettes are present and labially positioned; there is deep entoflexid in M,, with moderately and short hypoflexid and fossetid. Chromosomal complement is 2n = 80, FN = 86.

Habitat. Humid tropical evergreen forests, mature and secondary deciduous forests, gallery forests, floodplain forest, dry forests, grasslands, and areas near anthropogenic regions at elevations of 50-2000 m.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. Sexually active male Elegant Rice Rats and pregnant females were captured in February.

Activity patterns. Trapping data suggests that the Elegant Rice Rat is nocturnal and terrestrial.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red Lust.

Bibliography. Emmons & Patton (2005), Gardner & Patton (1976), Musser & Carleton (2005), Musser, Carleton et al. (1998), Patton et al. (2000), Percequillo (2015d), Weksler & Bonvicino (2016a).

Figures

353. Bogota Grass Mouse (Neomicroxus bogotensts), 354. Ecuadorean Grass Mouse (Neomucroxus latebricola), 355. Altiplano Chinchilla Mouse (Chinchillula sahamae), 356. Small Red-nosed Tree Mouse (Juliomys pictipes), 357. Delicate Red-nosed Tree Mouse (Juliomys ossitenuis), 358. Montane Red-rumped Tree Mouse (Juliomys rimofrons), 359. Araucaria Forest Tree Mouse (Juliomys ximenezi), 360. Ruschi’s Spiny Mouse (Abrawayaomys ruschii), 361. Chebez’s Spiny Mouse (Abrawayaomys chebezi), 362. Montane Atlantic Forest Rat (Delomys altimontanus), 363. Pallid Atlantic Forest Rat (Delomys sublineatus), 364. Striped Atlantic Forest Rat (Delomys dorsalis), 365. North-western Conyrat (Reithrodon caurinus), 366. Naked-soled Conyrat (Reithrodon typicus), 367. Hairy-soled Conyrat (Reithrodon awritus), 368. Short-tailed Cane Mouse (Zygodontomys brevicauda), 369. Colombian Cane Mouse (Zygodontomys brunneus), 370. Ucayali South American Spiny Mouse (Scolomys ucayalensts), 371. Gray South American Spiny Mouse (Scolomys melanops), 372. Boquete Rice Rat (Nephelomys devius), 373. Santa Marta Rice Rat (Nephelomys maculiventer), 374. Mount Pirre Rice Rat (Nephelomys pirrensis), 375. Western Colombian Rice Rat (Nephelomys pectoralis), 376. Coastal Cordilleran Rice Rat (Nephelomys caracolus), 377. Merida Rice Rat (Nephelomys meridensis), 378. Child’s Rice Rat (Nephelomys childi), 379. White-throated Rice Rat (Nephelomys albigularis), 380. Greater Golden-bellied Rice Rat (Nephelomys aurirventer), 381. Gray-bellied Rice Rat (Nephelomys moerex), 382. Lesser Golden-bellied Rice Rat (Nephelomys nimbosus), 383. Keays’s Rice Rat (Nephelomys keaysi), 384. Nimble-footed Rice Rat (Nephelomys levipes), 385. Hammond's Rice Rat (Mindomys hammondi), 386. White-bellied Arboreal Rice Rat (Oecomys bicolor), 387. Yellow Arboreal Rice Rat (Oecomys flavicans), 388. Savanna Arboreal Rice Rat (Oecomys speciosus), 389. Long-furred Arboreal Rice Rat (Oecomys trinitatis), 390. Robert's Arboreal Rice Rat (Oecomys robert), 391. Unicolored Arboreal Rice Rat (Oecomys concolor), 392. Guianan Arboreal Rice Rat (Oecomys awyantepui), 393. King Arboreal Rice Rat (Oecomys rex), 394. Red Arboreal Rice Rat (Oecomys rutilus), 395. Brazilian Arboreal Rice Rat (Oecomys paricola), 396. Foothill Arboreal Rice Rat (Oecomys superans), 397. Dusky Arboreal Rice Rat (Oecomys phaeotis), 398. Mamore Arboreal Rice Rat (Oecomys mamorae), 399. Anderson’s Arboreal Rice Rat (Oecomys sydandersoni), 400. Franciscos’ Arboreal Rice Rat (Oecomys franciscorum), 401. Atlantic Forest Arboreal Rice Rat (Oecomys catherinae), 402. Cleber’s Arboreal Rice Rat (Oecomys cleber), 403. McConnell’s Rice Rat (Euryoryzomys macconnelli), 404. Emmons’s Rice Rat (Euryoryzomys emmonsae), 405. Big-headed Rice Rat (Euryoryzomys legatus), 406. Russet Rice Rat (Euryoryzomys russatus), 407. Bufty-sided Rice Rat (Euryoryzomys lamia), 408. Elegant Rice Rat (Euryoryzomys nitidus), 409. Long-whiskered Rice Rat (Transandinomys bolivaris), 410. Talamancan Rice Rat (Transandinomys talamancae), 411. Long-nosed Rice Rat “ Handleyomys (™ rostratus), 412. Chapman’s Rice Rat “ Handleyomys (” chapman), 413. Black-eared Rice Rat “ Handleyomys (™ melanotis), 414. Guerrero Rice Rat “ Handleyomys (™ guerrerensis), 415. Cloud Forest Rice Rat “ Handleyomys (” saturatior), 416. Highland Rice Rat “ Handleyomys (” rhabdops), 417. Alfaro’s Rice Rat “ Handleyomys (” alfaroi), 418. Colombian Western Andes Cloud Forest Mouse (Handleyomys fuscatus), 419. Colombian Central Andes Cloud Forest Mouse (Handleyomys intectus)

Distribution. SW Amazon Basin, including E & SE Peru, SW Brazil, and N & E Bolivia.