473.

Langguth’s Rice Rat

Cerradomys langguthi

French: Cerradomys de Langguth / German: Langguth-Cerradomaus / Spanish: Rata arrocera de Langguth

Other common names: Langguth’s Cerradomys

Taxonomy. Cerradomys langguthi Percequillo, Hingst-Zaher & Bonvicino, 2008, Corredor Sao Joao-Fazenda Pacatuba, Sapé, State of Paraiba, Brazil.

Cerradomys langguthi is sister to a clade containing C. goytaca, C. subflavus, and C. voi. Recent quantitative and qualitative approaches revealed that diagnostic traits originally proposed for C. langguthi and C. vivoi were largely variable across a transect through their known distributions and were not useful without additional karyological and molecular markers. Monotypic.

Distribution. NE Brazil, N of Rio Sao Francisco, including Maranhao, Piaui, Ceara, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraiba, and Pernambuco states.

Descriptive notes. Head—body 119-153 mm,tail 144-195 mm, hindfoot 30-35 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. Species of the genus Cerradomys exhibit terrestrial and scansorial morphologies, with long and dense mystacial vibrissae, wide and robust hindfeet, and long tails. They are robust, with dorsal pelage long and lax, strongly built skulls and highly developed supraorbital crests, long incisive foramina, and derived carotid circulatory. Phallus is simplified, with apical cartilaginous part reduced and positioned outside apical crater; cartilaginous trident is reduced, with central digit is quite reduced or absent. Dorsum of Langguth’s Rice Rat is orange grizzled with brown, and head is grayish. Venter is grayish or slightly yellowish, with hairs having gray bases and yellow-buff tips. Mystacial vibrissae are long but not surpassing ears. Tail is long and bicolored or slightly bicolored. Hindfeet are small and entirely covered by white hair. Skull is small (greatest skull length 29-2-33-4 mm). Palate is long and wide, with complex postero-lateral palatal pits recessed in very deep palatal fossae. Mesopterygoid fossa is perforated by short and wide sphenopalatine vacuities restricted to presphenoid. Alisphenoid strut is absent. Incisors are opisthodont, and molars are pentalophodont molars, with mesoloph and mesolophid developed. Chromosomal complement is 2n = 48-50, FN = 56.

Habitat. Coastal humid forests of Atlantic Forest, dry semideciduous forests in Atlantic Forest—Caatinga ecotone, arbustive and arboreal Caatinga, and sugar-cane plantations or other cultivated fields near forest patches. In Pernambuco, Paraiba, and Ceara, records of Langguth’s Rice Rat are associated with coastal lowlands to interior highlands and mountain ranges, and in Maranhao, records are scattered through lowland forests.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. L.angguth’s Rice Rat is probably nocturnal.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Not assessed on The [UCN Red List.

Bibliography. Bonvicino, Casado & Weksler (2014), Caccavo & Oliveira (2016), Percequillo, Hingst-Zaher & Bonvicino (2008), Tavares et al. (2011).