- Jamaican Rice Rat
Taxobox
name = Nelson's Rice Rat
status = EX
extinct = 1880s
regnum =Animal ia
phylum = Chordata
classis =Mammal ia
ordo =Rodent ia
familia =Cricetidae
subfamilia =Sigmodontinae
genus = "Oryzomys "
species = "O. antillarum"
binomial = "Oryzomys antillarum"
binomial_authority = Thomas, 1898The Jamaican Rice Rat ("Oryzomys antillarum") was an extinct species of oryzomyinerodent living on the Greater Antillean island ofJamaica . Its extinction was likely caused by the introduction of theSmall Asian Mongoose ("Herpestes javanicus") to the island in 1872; the last known examples were taken in 1877. It is very common in cave deposits along the Jamaican seacoast. It was the only sigmodontine on any of the Greater Antilles.The dorsum is rufous-colored. The venter is yellowish, without any sharp division. The hands and feet are whitish. The total length is about 250 mm , with the tail being slightly longer than the head-body. The hindfoot length is 29.2 mm and the skull length 30.5 mm.
The Jamaican Rice Rat was originally described as a separate species, then reconsidered a subspecies of the
Marsh Rice Rat ("Oryzomys palustris") and retained as a subspecies ofCoues's Rice Rat ("Oryzomys couesi") when that species was again considered distinct. Eventually, it was once again recognized as a separate species.References
* Allen, G. M. 1942. Extinct and Vanishing Mammals of the Western Hemisphere with the Marine Species of All the Oceans. American Committee for International Wildlife Protection, Special Publ. 11, 620 pp.
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* Weksler, M., A. R. Percequillo, and R.S. Voss. 2006. Ten new genera of oryzomyine rodents (Cricetidae: Sigmodontinae). American Museum Novitates 3537:1-29.
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