Eremoryzomys

Eremoryzomys

Eremoryzomys polius, also known as the gray rice rat or the Marañon oryzomys, is a rodent species in the tribe Oryzomyini of the family Cricetidae. Discovered in 1912, it was first described in 1913 by Wilfred Osgood. It has a limited distribution in the dry upper valley of the Maraña River in central Peru.

About Eremoryzomys in brief

Summary EremoryzomysEremoryzomys polius, also known as the gray rice rat or the Marañon oryzomys, is a rodent species in the tribe Oryzomyini of the family Cricetidae. Discovered in 1912, it was first described in 1913 by Wilfred Osgood. In 2006, a cladistic analysis found that it was not closely related to OryZomys in the strict sense or to any other oryzomyine then known. The IUCN assesses the conservation status of the species as “Data Deficient”; it is poorly known but may be threatened by habitat destruction. The Brazilian genus Drymoreomys is probably the closest relative of Eremoryx polius. It has a limited distribution in the dry upper valley of the Maraña River in central Peru, but may yet contain more than one species. It is a large, long-tailed rice rat, with head and body length of 138 to 164 mm, E. polius has gray fur and short ears.

There are well-developed ungual tufts of hair on the hindfeet. Females have eight mammae. The rostrum is long and robust and the braincase is rounded. The bony palate is relatively short. The tail has a different color above and below; the parietal bone extends to the side of the skull; the incisive foramina extend back between the first molars; the posterolateral palatal pits are complex; the sphenopalatine vacuities are large; and the pattern of the arterial circulation in the head is derived. The posteroloph is present on the third upper molar. In 2011, a new species was described from southeastern Brazil, Dry moreomys albimaculatus, which is the closest known relative of this animal. In reference to the Greek word eremly, its distribution is thusly “isolated”