480.

Goytaca Rice Rat

Cerradomys goytaca

French: Cerradomys des Goytacas / German: Goytaca-Cerradomaus / Spanish: Rata arrocera de Goytaca

Other common names: Goytaca Cerradomys

Taxonomy. Cerradomys goytaca Tavares, Pessoa & P. R. Goncalves, 2011, Parque Nacional Restinga de Jurubatiba, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Recent studies using more thorough sampling concluded that populations assigned to C. goytaca appear monophyletic in samples of C. subflavus . Monotypic.

Distribution. Coastal Espirito Santo and Rio de Janeiro states, SE Brazil.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 116—

166 mm, tail 130-181 mm, hindfoot 30-34 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. Dorsum of the Goytaca Rice Rat is orange, grizzled with brown; head is grayish, especially laterally around eyes and cheeks. Venter is whitish, with hairs having pale gray to brownish gray bases. Mystacial vibrissae are long, reaching middle of ears or surpassing ear tips. Tail is strongly bicolored. Hindfeet are narrow and long, covered by hairs with brown bases and white tips. Skull is heavily built, large, and robust (greatest skull length 33-8-39-7 mm). Palate is long and wide, with complex and broad postero-lateral palatal pits recessed in deep palatal fossae. Mesopterygoid fossa is perforated by long and wide sphenopalatine vacuities through presphenoid and basisphenoid. Alisphenoid strut is absent. Incisors are opisthodont, and molars are pentalophodont, with well-developed mesoloph and mesolophid. Chromosomal complement is 2n = 54, FN = 66.

Habitat. Coastal sandy plains nested within the Atlantic Forest biome, characterized by marshes, swamps, wet and dry grasslands, shrublands, and flooded and unflooded forests.

Food and Feeding. The Goytaca Rice Rat is apparently frugivorous, and available evidence suggests that it is a fruit predator and fruit disperser of Allagoptera arenaria a palm species commonly found in Restinga.

Breeding. The Goytaca Rice Rat apparently nests on trees in tangled bromeliads and on the ground in leaflitter. Pregnant females were trapped in April and September during dry season; four embryos were the maximum number recorded. Captive females had litters of 4-5 young.

Activity patterns. Sampling data of the Goytaca Rice Rat suggests nocturnal activity. This species is somewhat arboreal.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Goytaca Rice Rats are abundant on restinga shrubland. This shrubland has a patchy distribution on islands of variable size, and specimens were trapped on borders and interiors of these patches. Individuals also inhabit forest patches. Peaks in populational growth occur in dry seasons. Apparently maturation of fruits of A. arenaria palm is correlated with increased survivorship, leading to population growth. Available data suggests that the Goytaca Rice Rats has life history traits similar to endemic rodents of Galapagos Islands (i.e. Aegialomys and Nesoryzomys) and members of the tribe Oryzomyini because they have higher levels of survivorship associated with small populational fluctuations.

Status and Conservation. Not assessed on The IUCN Red List.

Bibliography. Grenha et al. (2010), Lemos & Gongalves (2015), Martins-Hatano et al. (2001), Percequillo (2015b), Tavares et al. (2011).