Chalchalero vizcacha rat

Chalchalero vizcacha rat
Conservation status
Critically Endangered (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Octodontidae
Genus:	Salinoctomys Mares, Braun, Barquez & Diaz, 2000
Species:	S. loschalchalerosorum
Binomial name
Salinoctomys loschalchalerosorum Mares, Braun, Barquez & Diaz, 2000

The Chalchalero vizcacha rat (Salinoctomys loschalchalerosorum) is a species of caviomorph rodent in the family Octodontidae.^[2] It is monotypic within the genus Salinoctomys. The species is endemic to a small area of northwestern Argentina, where it lives in shrublands bordering the salt flats of the Salinas Grandes.^[1] Its diet consists of halophyte plants.^[1] The rodent is threatened by degradation of its unique habitat. It is named after an Argentine musical group, Los Chalchaleros, whose songs were popular with its discoverers.^[3]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Salinoctomys loschalchalerosorum". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.1. International Union for Conservation of Nature. 2008. http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/136714. Retrieved 6 July 2009. 
2. ^ Woods, Charles A.; Kilpatrick, C. William (16 November 2005). "Infraorder Hystricognathi (pp. 1538-1600)". In Wilson, Don E., and Reeder, DeeAnn M., eds. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols. (2142 pp.). p. 1573. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3/browse.asp?id=13400383. 
3. ^ Mares, Michael A. (1 November 2003). "Desert dreams: seeking the secret mammals of the salt pans - Naturalist at Large". Natural History. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1134/is_9_112/ai_110737005/. 

• Mares, M. A.; Braun, J. K.; Barquez, R. M.; Diaz, M. M. (2000). "Two new genera and species of halophytic desert mammals from isolated salt flats in Argentina". Occ. Pap. Mus. Tex. Tech. Univ. (Museum of Texas Tech University) 203: 1–27.