Pacarana

Pacarana
Pacarana
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Dinomyidae
Genus: Dinomys
Peters, 1873
Species: D. branickii
Binomial name
Dinomys branickii
Peters, 1873

The Pacarana (Dinomys branickii) is a rare and slow-moving nocturnal rodent found only in tropical forests of the western Amazon River basin and adjacent foothills of the Andes Mountains from northwestern Venezuela and Colombia to western Bolivia, including the yungas. One place that it is common is Cotapata National Park in Bolivia.[1] It is known as the pacarama (false paca) by native Indians[who?] due to its superficial similarity to a different caviomorph rodent, the paca.[citation needed]

It is a hystricognath rodent, and the sole extant member of the family Dinomyidae in Caviomorpha; initially, it was placed with true mice. Some evidence places the pacarana as closely related to the prehistoric giant rodents that inhabited South America several million years ago, such as Phoberomys pattersoni and Josephoartigasia monesi.

It has a chunky body and is large for a rodent, weighing up to 15 kg (33 lb) and measuring up to 79 cm (31 in) in length, not including the thick, furry tail.

References

  1. ^ a b Tirira, D., Vargas, J. & Dunnum, J. (2008). Dinomys branickii. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 5 January 2009.

External links


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • pacarana — ▪ rodent       a rare and slow moving South American rodent found only in tropical forests (tropical rainforest) of the western Amazon River basin and adjacent foothills of the Andes Mountains from northwestern Venezuela and Colombia to western… …   Universalium

  • Pacarana — pakarana statusas T sritis zoologija | vardynas taksono rangas rūšis atitikmenys: lot. Dinomys branickii angl. false paca; pacarana vok. falsche Paca; Pacarana rus. пакарана pranc. pacarana ryšiai: platesnis terminas – pakaranos …   Žinduolių pavadinimų žodynas

  • pacarana — pakarana statusas T sritis zoologija | vardynas taksono rangas rūšis atitikmenys: lot. Dinomys branickii angl. false paca; pacarana vok. falsche Paca; Pacarana rus. пакарана pranc. pacarana ryšiai: platesnis terminas – pakaranos …   Žinduolių pavadinimų žodynas

  • Pacarana — Dinomys branickii Dinomys branickii …   Wikipédia en Français

  • pacarana — noun A large, rare, slow moving rodent (Dinomys branickii) with a thick, furry tail, native to South America, the largest species of mouse and the second largest rodent after the capybara. Syn: Count Branickis mouse …   Wiktionary

  • pacarana — n. large and rare rodent that moves slowly and has a thick furry tail and dark brown/ black fur with white stripes running lengthwise along the back and other white spots (native to South America), rodent which is the largest species of mouse …   English contemporary dictionary

  • pacarana — [ˌpakə rα:nə] noun a South American rodent resembling a cavy, with white stripes along the back. [Dinomys branickii.] Origin from Tupi, lit. false paca …   English new terms dictionary

  • sû̱pacaraṇá — सूपचरण …   Indonesian dictionary

  • Dinomyidae — Temporal range: Early Miocene–Recent …   Wikipedia

  • Mammal classification — Over 70% of mammal species are in the orders Rodentia (blue), Chiroptera (red), and Soricomorpha (yellow) Mammalia is a class of animal within the Phylum Chordata. Mammal classification has been through several iterations since Carolus Linnaeus… …   Wikipedia

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