Ctenomys torquatus Lichtenstein 1830

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Rodentia - Family Ctenomyidae, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 1560-1570 : 1569

Ctenomys torquatus Lichtenstein 1830

Ctenomys torquatus Lichtenstein 1830 , Darst. Saugeth.: text of pl. 31.

Type Locality: Brazil, S provinces, and banks of Uruguay River. See Moojen (1952:188).

Vernacular Names: Collared Tuco-tuco.

Distribution: Uruguay, NE Argentina, extreme S Brazil.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc). Endangered from stripe coal mining ( Freitas, 1995).

Discussion: Considered a distinct species by Ellerman (1940) and Nowak (1999); but see Cabrera (1961:547) who provisionally included it in brasiliensis . Although six different karyotypes attributed to C. torquatus have been reported ( Freitas and Lessa, 1984; Kiblisky et al., 1977; Reig et al., 1966), two of those (2n=56 and 70) were from populations currently recognized as C. pearsoni ( Novello and Lessa, 1986) . Populations of C. torquatus from S Brazil and N Uruguay have 2n=44-46 (FN=72) and populations from S Uruguay and NE Argentina have 2n=64 or 68 (FN=96); see Freitas and Lessa (1984).