Thomasomys silvestris Anthony, 1924

VOSS, ROBERT S., 2003, A New Species of Thomasomys (Rodentia: Muridae) from Eastern Ecuador, with Remarks on Mammalian Diversity and Biogeography in the Cordillera Oriental, American Museum Novitates 3421, pp. 1-48 : 33-34

Thomasomys silvestris Anthony

Figures 11–13

SPECIMENS COLLECTED: None.

OTHER MATERIAL COLLECTED: A single specimen (FMNH 43251) was collected on Cerro Antisana by R. Olalla in 1934.

TAXONOMY: Thomasomys silvestris was originally described from a large series of specimens collected on the densely forested western slope of the western Andes south of Quito in the Ecuadorean provinces of Pichincha and Bolívar ( Anthony, 1924a). I compared the Antisana specimen with the type series, which it exactly resembles in qualitative characters. The Antisana specimen is an old adult, however, with molars that are worn below the widest part of the crowns, so most of its measurements are larger than those of adults with measurable teeth in the type series ( table 9). No synonyms of T. silvestris are currently recognized.

REMARKS: It seems probable that the Antisana specimen of Thomasomys silvestris was collected on the western side of Antisana as previously remarked for similarly labeled specimens of T. rhoadsi collected at the same time by the same collector.

Figures

Fig. 11. Dorsal cranial views of eight Thomasomys species that occur in the Cordillera Oriental of northern Ecuador. Top row (left to right): T. aureus (UMMZ 127114), T. baeops (UMMZ 155708), T. cinnameus (UMMZ 155671), T. erro (UMMZ 155713). Bottom row (left to right): T. paramorum (UMMZ 155737), T. rhoadsi (AMNH 66256), T. silvestris (USNM 513592), T. ucucha (UMMZ 155644).

Fig. 12. Ventral cranial views of eight Thomasomys species from the Cordillera Oriental of northern Ecuador. Top row (left to right): T. aureus (UMMZ 127114), T. baeops (UMMZ 155708), T. cinnameus (UMMZ 155671), T. erro (UMMZ 155713). Bottom row (left to right): T. paramorum (UMMZ 155737), T. rhoadsi (AMNH 66256), T. silvestris (USNM 513592), T. ucucha (UMMZ 155644).

Fig. 13. Lateral cranial and mandibular views of eight Thomasomys species from the Cordillera Oriental of northern Ecuador. Left side (top to bottom): T. aureus (UMMZ 127114), T. baeops (UMMZ 155708), T. cinnameus (UMMZ 155671), T. erro (UMMZ 155713). Right column (top to bottom): T. paramorum (UMMZ 155737), T. rhoadsi (AMNH 66256), T. silvestris (USNM 513592), T. ucucha (UMMZ 155644).