429.

Sprightly Pygmy Rice Rat

Oligoryzomys vegetus

French: Colilargo vivace / German: Muntere Zwergreisratte / Spanish: Rata arrocera pigmea briosa

Other common names: Sprightly Colilargo

Taxonomy. Oryzomys (Oligoryzomys) vegetus Bangs, 1902, Boquete, 4000 ft (= 1219 m), Chiriqui Volcano, Chiriqui Province, Panama .

This species is monotypic.

Distribution. Highlands of Costa Rica and W Panama.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 75-105 mm, tail 110-131 mm, ear 12-15 mm, hindfoot 18-25 mm; weight 11-16 g. Upperparts of the Sprightly Pygmy Rice Rat are bright yellowish red brown, darkest along mid-back, and becoming strong orange rufous on rump, sides, sides of head, and bases of whiskers; top of nose and head are duller and more mixed with dark brown-tipped hairs; chin and underside of neck are whitish, and rest of underparts are ocherous buff, not sharply contrasting with sides; feet and hands are yellowish white; ears are dark brown outside and inside with hairs (rather sparse) colored like back; and tail is dusky above, unicolorerd for most of its length except slightly paler near ventral base, and c.140% of head-body length. Young differ little from adults, except they are rather duller in color throughout. Skull is relatively broad across zygomatic arches; braincase, zygomatic plate, and interorbial constriction are correspondingly narrow; molar toothrow (2-7-3 mm) appears delicate for size of skull; and capsular process of mandible are well-developed.

Habitat. Lower montane and montane wet forests at elevations of 840-3000 m. The Sprightly Pygmy Rice Rat occurs in second growth, brush, and cloud forest openings, including ecotonal habitats (e.g. coffee plantations).

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. No information.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. The Sprightly Pygmy Rice Rat presumably has a large overall population and occurs in protected areas. It is considered an invasive species in some parts of its distribution.

Bibliography. Bangs (1902), Carleton & Musser (1995), Méndez (1993), Reid (1997), Rodriguez-Herrera et al. (2014), Timm (2016), Timm & LaVal (2000), Villalobos-Chaves et al. (2016), Wainwright (2003).