Oryzomys couesi
Oryzomys couesi, also known as Coues’ rice rat, is a semiaquatic rodent in the family Cricetaceae. It is usually found in wet habitats, such as marshes, but also lives in drier forests and shrublands. It was first identified in 18 77, using three specimens from Mexico and Guatemala.
About Oryzomys couesi in brief
Oryzomys couesi, also known as Coues’ rice rat, is a semiaquatic rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is usually found in wet habitats, such as marshes, but also lives in drier forests and shrublands. The species was first described in 1877, the first of many related species from the region described until the 1910s. O. couesi and at least six more narrowly distributed species with peripheral distributions together form the O. couesi group within the genus Oryzomyini. The eighth species of the genus, the marsh rice rat is the only member of its own group. Generally, O. Couesi is common and of no conservation concern, and it is even considered a plague species in places, but some populations are threatened. The specific name, Couesi, honors American naturalist Elliott Coues, who had done much work on North American rodents.and see below. In 1918, Edward Alphonso Goldman consolidated most into the single species Ory Zomys. In 1960 Raymond Hall united this taxon with its United States relative, theMarsh rice rat, into a single widespread species. Since then, some of the peripheral forms of the group have been reinstated as species. A 2010 study, using DNA sequence data, found evidence to recognize separate species. from the Pacific and eastern sides of the distribution of O. Couesi and two additional species from Panama and Costa Rica. Ory Zomys previously included many other species, which were reclassified in various studies culminating in contributions by Marcelo Weksler and coworkers in 2006.
All are placed in the tribe OryZomyini, a diverse assemblage of over a hundred species, and on higher taxonomic levels in the subfamily Sigmodontinae of the family Cricetaceae. It eats both plant and animal food, including seeds and insects. It breeds throughout the year; females give birth to about four young after a pregnancy of 21 to 28 days. The species may be infected by several different parasites and by two hantaviruses. The coarse fur is buff to reddish above and white to buff below. The hindfeet show some specializations for life in the water,. such as reduced ungual tufts of hair around the digits. It has 56 chromosomes. In the U.S., it is an excellent swimmer and dives well, but can also climb in vegetation. In Mexico and Central America, it is considered a pest species, but it is not considered a threat to human health. It lives in dry habitats, including marshes and forests. It can be found in western Texas and western Costa Rica, with ten subspecies distributed south to Costa Rica and western Mexico and western Texas. It was first identified in 18 77, using three specimens from Mexico and Guatemala. Several other related species were described from the early 1890s onwards.
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This page is based on the article Oryzomys couesi published in Wikipedia (as of Oct. 30, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
