557.

El Dorado Grass Mouse

Akodon orophilus

French: Akodon de |I'Utcubamba / German: El-Dorado-Graslandmaus / Spanish: Raton de hierba de el Dorado

Other common names: Utcubamba Akodont

Taxonomy. Akodon mollis orophilus Osgood, 1913, “six miles west of Leymebamba, in mountains near headwaters of Utcubamba River, Amazonas, Peru.”

Akodon mollis orientalis is sometimes used as subspecies of A. orophilus; however, recent revisions on Andean Akodon suggest that taxonomy of orophilus needs to be reevaluated, and this trinomial classification should be changed. Ecuadorean records belong to A. mollis . Monotypic.

Distribution. E Andean slopes E of Rio Maranon in Amazonas and N San Martin departments, NW Peru.

Descriptive notes. Head—body 95-110 mm, tail 74-100 mm, ear 14-19 mm, hindfoot 20-25 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. The El Dorado Grass Mouse is a medium-sized species of Akodon . Dorsal pelage is uniform olive-green, similar to venter. Contours of posterior edge of nasals are smooth, tapering, and V-shaped.

Habitat. Wet elfin forests, heavily wooded canyons, living grasses and rushes near swamps, and crop fields at elevations of 1900-2860 m.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. El Dorado Grass Mice are terrestrial and mostly nocturnal. In some areas, they live in labyrinths of runways, open burrows, and fresh grass cuttings; near heavy woods or rocky stream beds, they retreat in natural openings in or near the ground.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

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

Bibliography. Jiménez & Pacheco (2016), Jiménez et al. (2013), Osgood (1914b), Pardinas, Teta, Alvarado-Serrano et al. (2015), Zeballos & Vivar (20169).