598.

Broad-footed Climbing Rat

Rhipidomys latimanus

French: Rhipidomys a pattes larges / German: BreitfulR-Neuweltklettermaus / Spanish: Rata trepadora de pies anchos

Other common names: Broad-footed Climbing Mouse, Broad-footed Rhipidomys, North-western Rhipidomys

Taxonomy. Hesperomys latimanus Tomes, 1860, around Pallatanga, Chimborazo, Ecuador.

Although the species is treated as monotypic, considerable morphological and morphometric variation is observed. This species includes R. scandens from eastern Panama. Populations referred to latimanus in western Ecuador and north-western Peru should be revised; for those of Ecuador a tenuous assignation to the recently described R. albujai was advanced.

Distribution. Extreme E Panama, W Colombia, W Ecuador, and NW Peru.

Descriptive notes. Head—body 98-124 mm, tail 135-184 mm, ear 17-19 mm, hindfoot 26-28 mm; weight 50-63 g. Females are smaller than males. The Broad-footed Climbing Rat is medium in size. Dorsal pelage is intense orange to reddish brown (9-10 mm in length). Guard hairs are dark brown to black. Ventral pelage is creamy white, and flanks are noticeably paler. Hindlegs are sturdy and moderately sized, with narrow dark patch on metatarsus, widening at bases of third, fourth, and fifth digit. Tail is 120-150% of head-body length, robust, and dark brown; tail hairs are short, longer distally, and end as a brush (3-30 mm long), usually 10 mm. Ears are small to medium in size and darker than dorsal fur. Skull rather slender; narrow rostrum; braincase oval; supraorbital ridges developed, straight, and converge strongly to front of interorbital region. Karyotype is 2n = 44, FN = 48 from Colombian specimens (Valle del Cauca).

Habitat. Primary and secondary dry, cloud, tropical, subtropical and temperate forests, also gallery forest, that includes shrub, grassland, and cultivated areas, at elevations of 450-3000 m. Broad-footed Climbing Rats prefer areas with dense vegetation, abundant lianas, and epiphytes, close to water. Specimens from near Cali in the Cauca Valley were trapped in coffee plantations and second growth woodland.

Food and Feeding. The Broad-footed Climbing Rat eats fruit, seeds, and other plants, and insects.

Breeding. In Panama, one pregnant female with three embryos was captured in March.

Activity patterns. The Broad-footed Climbing Ratis nocturnal and both terrestrial and arboreal.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Broad-footed Climbing Rats use all levels ofthe forest, but prefers the forest canopy. They use hollows of trees, leaves of palms or dense vegetation as diurnal roost. This species is solitary.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The [UCN Red List.

Bibliography. Brito et al. (2017), Delgado & Catano (2004), Emmons & Feer (1999), Goldman (1913), Gémez-Laverde, Tirira & Delgado (2016), Montenegro-Diaz et al. (1991), Tribe (1996, 2015).