522.

Ihering’s Brucie

Brucepattersonius iheringi

French: Brucie d'lhering / German: | hering-Brucie / Spanish: Ratén hocicudo enano de | hering

Other common names: | hering’s Akodont, | hering’s Hocicudo

Taxonomy. Oxymycterus iheringi Thomas, 1896, “Taquara, Rio Grande do Sul,” Brazil .

Early view of E. Massoia in 1963 considered B. iheringi as the species to allocate populations of Misiones Province, Argentina, here resurrected. Therefore, B. guarani, B. misionensis, and B. paradisus, are treated as junior synonyms of iheringi . These forms, each represented by a single specimen, were based on subtle morphological differences that represented non-geographical variation, more specifically agerelated traits. Monotypic.

Distribution. S Brazil (Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sulstates) and NE Argentina (Misiones Province).

Descriptive notes. Head-body 89-113 mm, tail 83-107 mm, ear 15-19 mm, hindfoot 21-26 mm; weight 40-45 g. Ihering’s Brucie is medium-sized, with soft and thick fur; upperparts and sides are grayish to yellowish overall; and underparts are uniformly grizzled brown, scarcely paler than sides. Tail typically is slightly longer than headbody length. Ears are comparatively large.

Habitat. Araucaria (Araucariaceae) forest and Atlantic Forest from sea level to elevations of ¢.1000 m. Ihering’s Brucies were trapped in forests with dense litter and herbaceous cover and in rocky borders ofsylvan streams well-covered by dense understory of bamboo. They also were caught in forest areas transformed to pasture lands.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. Female Ihering’s Brucies with open vaginas and males with enlarged and scrotal testes were recorded in September, suggesting breeding in early spring.

Activity patterns. Ihering’s Brucies are nocturnal and have tried to burrow underlitter placed in cages.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Captive Thering’s Brucies have never been abundant in traditional surveys using Sherman-like live traps. Abundance of Thering’s Brucies varied significantly among fragments of forest of differentsize; it was higher in connected compared with isolated habitat fragments (just considering medium-sized fragments).

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red Lust.

Bibliography. Christoff, Leite & Patterson (2016), Cirignoli et al. (2011), Dias (2016), Grazzini, Mochi-Junior, de OI-Iveira, Pontes, de Almeida & Tiepolo (2015), Hershkovitz (1998), Jung & Christoff (2003), Mares & Braun (2000a), Massoia (1963b, 1980b, 1993), Massoia & Fornes (1969), Massoia, Chebez & Bosso (2006), Massoia, Vaccaro et al. (1987), Pardini et al. (2005), Scheibler & Christoff (2004), Thomas (1896b), Vilela (2005), Vilela et al. (2015).