515.

Cerrado Giant Rat

Gyldenstolpia planaltensis

French: Akodon de Planaltina / German: Cerrado-Riesenratte / Spanish: Rata gigante del Cerrado

Taxonomy. Kunsia fronto planaltensis Avila-Pires, 1972, Jardim Zoologico de Brasilia Sgt. Silvio Delmar Hollembach, Brasilia, Distrito Federal, Brazil.

This species is monotypic.

Distribution. WC Brazil; recorded from Mato Grosso State and Distrito Federal.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 160-205 mm, tail 75-118 mm, ear 17-8-21 mm, hindfoot 25-38 mm; weight 98-139 g. The Cerrado Giant Rat is large, with semifossorial body plan exemplified by moderately short (c.10% of head-body length), rounded, and semi-hidden ears; short, somewhat hispid dorsal pelage; small eyes; thick and proportionately shorttail; and well-developed and powerful claws on forefeet and hindfeet (c.4-5 mm and c.3-7 mm in length, respectively). Back, pes, manus, and tail are dark wood-brown to grayish brown; upperparts have glistening greenish sheen visible under certain lighting; and venter is grayish white and not sharply contrasting with dorsum. Hindfoot has naked plantar surface and six pads. Unicolored tail has rigid hairs. There are four pairs of mammae. The Cerrado Giant Rat differs from the Fossorial Giant Rat (G. fronto) by its slightly smaller size and subtle cranial and dental traits.

Habitat. Grasslands probably at least seasonally flooded, marshes, and other freshwater bodies. The specimen of the Cerrado Giant Rat from Serra do Roncador, Mato Grosso State was caught on a transect through a vegetation type described as “cerrado sensu stricto,” a plant association of the Cerrado biome that is dominated by dense savanna. Individuals from Estacao Ecologica de Aguas Emendadas (ESECAE, Planaltina, Brasil) were trapped in flooding grasslands.

Food and Feeding. The Cerrado Giant Rat is presumably herbivorous, judging from molar hypsodonty and general morphology.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. Semi-fossorial body plan of the Cerrado Giant Rat suggests specialization for life in palustrine habitats and digging as the means of obtaining food.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Not assessed on The IUCN Red List, which considered this species as part of the Fossorial Gian Rat ( Kunsia fronto), classified as Endangered. The Cerrado Giant Rat is known from only three separate populations, and the one from the type locality probably has been extirpated by human impact, so a future classification of Critically Endangered might be appropriate.

Bibliography. de Avila-Pires (1972), Bezerra (2011), Goncalves, Oliveira et al. (2005), Langguth et al. (1997), Marinho-Filho et al. (1998), Pardinas & Bezerra (2015), Pardinas, D'Elia & Teta (2009).