Mt. Pirri Isthmus Rat

Taxobox
name = Mt. Pirri Isthmus Rat
status = LR/nt | status_system = IUCN2.3
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Mammalia
ordo = Rodentia
familia = Cricetidae
genus = "Isthmomys"
species = "I. pirrensis"
binomial = "Isthmomys pirrensis"
binomial_authority = (Goldman, 1912)
synonyms = The Mt. Pirri Isthmus Rat ("Isthmomys pirrensis") is a species of rodent in the Cricetidae family. It is found only in Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. At the time of its discovery it was considered as the “most common rat of southeastern Panama” (Anthony 1916). Found only in the eastern region of Darien, "I. pirrensis" appears to be a relic species confined to the Panamanian side of the Serrania del Darien (Hershkovitz 1966). Its occurrence on the Colombian side of the Serrania has been suggested without documentation of specimens (Alberico et al. 2000; Cuartas-Calle and Muñoz-Arango 2003; Hall and Kelson 1958; Hershkovitz 1966). Localities for "I. pirrensis" indicated by museum records are in the eastern Panama state of Darien throughout the areas surrounding Mt. Pirre (=Pirri, 7° 51' 8" N, 77° 46' 24" W), Mt. Tacarcuna and the Tacarcuna Village (8° 10' 58" N, 77° 17' 3.5" W); however, no specimens are recorded from the low lying areas (<800m) that bisect these two ranges. Although neotomine-peromyscine rodents have historically been the subject of systematic research, studies involving "Isthmomys" have generally excluded "I. flavidus" due to its rarity in museum collections and the unavailability of tissue samples for molecular analysis (Bradley et al. 2007; Bradley et al. 2004; Carleton 1973; Engel et al. 1998; Hill 1975; Stangl and Baker 1984). In addition, morphological and physiological studies involving "I. flavidus" (Carleton 1973, 1980; Hill 1975; Hooper and Musser 1964; Linzey and Layne 1974; Linzey and Layne 1969; Voss and Linzey 1981) utilized specimens from the Cerro Hoya locality which was originally proposed as a geographic race of "I. pirrensis" (Handley 1966).

References

* Baillie, J. 1996. [http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/10887/all Isthmomys pirrensis] . [http://www.iucnredlist.org 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. ] Downloaded on 19 July 2007.
*Musser, G. G. and M. D. Carleton. 2005. Superfamily Muroidea. Pp. 894-1531 "in" Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.