Ihering's Atlantic Spiny-rat

discussion

Discussion: Reviewed by Pessôa and Reis (1996), who recognized the six subspecies listed by Moojen (1948: bonafidei, denigratus, gratiosus, iheringi, panema, paratus) plus the newly described eliasi. Pessôa and Reis (1994) concluded that bonafidei, denigratus, eliasi, gratiosus, panema may be part of a taxon specifically distinct from iheringi. Lara and Patton (2000) concluded that bonafidei and gratiosus were not allied with iheringi and elevated gratiosus to a species and retained bonafidei as a subspecies of gratiosus. Lara and Patton (2000) also elevated eliasi and paratus to species and concluded that denigratus was a subspecies of setosus. The sister taxon of iheringi is dimidiatus (Lara and Patton, 2000). Karyotype has 2 n = 60 - 65 depending on the number of B chromosomes (Yonenaga-Yassuda et al., 1985).

Order Rodentia - Family Echimyidae

distribution

Distribution: Mainland and offshore islands of the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro (E Brazil).

Order Rodentia - Family Echimyidae

activity

Activity patterns. There is no specific information available for this species, but the Sao Paulo Spiny-rat is presumed to be primarily nocturnal.

Echimyidae

biology_ecology

Habitat. Atlantic Forest biome, primarily in the Serra do Mar Coastal Forest ecoregion, at elevations above 600 m. The Sao Paulo Spiny-rat occurs in primary and secondary evergreen forests with elevated humidity and dense overstory and trees at least 20 m high. Ground terrain in these forests is typically moderately steep, with rocky outcrops and relatively few fallen logs on the ground. Understory usually reaches 1 - 5 m in height, includes many palms and fruit trees, but has few lianas and vines, with some arboreal bromeliads and abundant arborescent.

Echimyidae