479.

Terraced Rice Rat

Cerradomys subflavus

French: Cerradomys ambré / German: Gelbliche Cerradomaus / Spanish: Rata arrocera de terraza

Other common names: Flavescent Cerradomys, Flavescent Oryzomys, Flavescent Rice Rat

Taxonomy. Hesperomys subflavus Wagner, 1842, “Brasilia.” Restricted by A. Cabrera in 1961 to “Lagoa Santa, estado de Minas Gerais,” Brazil.

Cerradomys subflavus is the type species of the genus Cerradomys. Recent phylogenetic studies failed to recover C. subflavus as reciprocally monophyletic to C. goytaca and C. vivoi. Monotypic.

Distribution. Bahia, Goias, Minas Gerais, and Sao Paulo states, C & E Brazil.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 125-179 mm, tail 150-210 mm, hindfoot 30-38 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. Dorsum of the Terraced Rice Rat is orange, grizzled with brown, with grayish head. Venter is whitish, with hairs having pale gray to brownish gray bases. Mystacial vibrissae are long, reaching middle of ears or surpassing ear tips.

Tail is strongly bicolored. Hindfeet are narrow and long, covered by hairs with brown bases and white tips and entirely white hairs. Skull is heavily built, large, and robust (greatest skull length 30-7-36-5 mm). Palate is long and wide, with complex and broad postero-lateral palatal pits recessed in deep and narrow palatal fossae. Mesopterygoid fossa is perforated by long and wide sphenopalatine vacuities through presphenoid and basisphenoid. Alisphenoid strut is absent. Eustachian tube of auditory bulla presents medial bony lamina, dorsalto carotid canal. Incisors are opisthodont, and molars are Pentalophodont, with well-developed mesoloph and mesolophid. Chromosomal complement is 2n = 54, FN = 62.

Habitat. Open and forested habitats of Cerrado and patches of Atlantic Forest.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. The Terraced Rice Rat is terrestrial but might be scansorial because it is trapped in trees. In anthropogenic landscapes in south-eastern Brazil, it was more commonly trapped in corridors than in fragments, suggesting resilience to habitat alterations.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

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

Bibliography. Bonvicino, Casado & Weksler (2014), Cabrera (1961), Caccavo & Oliveira (2016), da Fonseca & Kierulff (1989), Langguth & Bonvicino (2002), Mesquita & Passamani (2012), Percequillo (2015b), Percequillo, Hingst-Zaher & Bonvicino (2008), Rocha, M.F et al. (2011).