elegant rice rat

Euryoryzomys nitidus is a medium-sized rice rat with a head-and-body length of about 136 mm (5.4 in) and a similar length tail. The short dense fur on the head and back is tawny or tawny-brown, the sides of the head and flanks being tinged with ochre. The underparts are whitish-grey. The tail is a uniform colour apart from the underside near the tip which is mottled. The upper surfaces of both fore- and hind-feet are clad in white hair, and the nails are hidden by tufts of hair growing between them.

The main population of E. nitidus is in the Andean foothills of Peru, Bolivia and western Brazil and adjoining lowlands. However outlying individuals have been identified at scattered locations in south-central Brazil, Paraguay and northeastern Argentina. In the upper Amazon basin, this species shares its range with the closely related Euryoryzomys macconnelli. Its altitudinal range is between about 50 and 2,000 m (200 and 6,600 ft) and its typical habitat is tropical and sub-tropical rainforest. It also occurs in secondary forest and seems able to tolerate a considerable amount of habitat degradation. Other places where it has been recovered include primary and secondary dry deciduous forests, riverine gallery forests, savannah with palm trees, swamp forests and the environs of villages, among cropland, pasture and sporting venues. It is also present in the foothills of an isolated massif in Mato Grosso do Sul on the western border of the Pantanal. It is a terrestrial species.