Gran Canaria giant rat

The Gran Canaria giant rat (Canariomys tamarani) is an extinct species of rat endemic to the island of Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain).

Gran Canaria giant rat
Temporal range: Holocene
Fossils in Museo de la Naturaleza y el Hombre in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Muridae
Genus: †Canariomys
Species:
†C. tamarani
Binomial name
†Canariomys tamarani
Lopez-Martinez & Telesfóro bravo

This rodent is known from Holocene to pre-Hispanic fossil remains found at several places on the island of Gran Canaria, the youngest of which have been dated to shortly before the beginning of the Common Era.[1] This species was previously listed on the 2000 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as extinct, but was removed from the list because it is now considered to have gone extinct before 1500 AD.

The giant rat was herbivorous and terrestrial, with some digging skills and the ability to climb trees.[2]

The giant rat's estimated head and body length were respectively 287 mm and 200 mm,[2] and its average bodyweight is believed to have ranged from 750g to 1200g.[3]

Another giant rat of the Canary Islands was the Tenerife giant rat, Canariomys bravoi. It is believed that the arrival of humans and the introduction of feral dogs led to the extinction of both species.[3]

See also

References
  1. Musser, G.G.; Carleton, M.D. (2005). "Superfamily Muroidea". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 1357. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  2. Michaux, Jacques; Hautier, Lionel; Hutterer, Rainer; Lebrun, Renaud; Guy, Franck; García-Talavera, Francisco (2012-10-01). "Body shape and life style of the extinct rodent Canariomys bravoi (Mammalia, Murinae) from Tenerife, Canary Islands (Spain)". Comptes Rendus Palevol. 11 (7): 485–494. doi:10.1016/j.crpv.2012.06.004. ISSN 1631-0683.
  3. Michaux, J.; López-Martínez, N.; Hernández-Pachero, J.J. (1996). "A 14C dating of Canariomys bravoi (Mammalia, Rodentia), the extinct giant rat from Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain), and the recent history of the endemic mammals in the archipelago". Vie et Milieu. 46: 261–266..
Wikispecies has information related to Canariomys tamarani.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.