Caenolestes fuliginosus (Tomes)

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 : 15-18

Caenolestes fuliginosus (Tomes)

SPECIMENS COLLECTED: 10.6 km (by road) W Papallacta, 12,600 ft (UMMZ 155581); 6.2 km (by road) W Papallacta, 11,700 ft (AMNH 248261–248271; UMMZ 127107– 127109, 127152–127157, 155571–155580, 155688–155689, 155692–155695); Río Papallacta Valley, 11,100 ft (UMMZ 155570, 155690, 155691).

OTHER MATERIAL: Three additional specimens ( FMNH 43164–43166 ) were collected on Cerro Antisana by R. Olalla in 1930 .

TAXONOMY: The genus Caenolestes was revised by Bublitz (1987), who examined eight of the specimens listed above and identified the local population as belonging to the nominotypical subspecies C. f. fuliginosus .

FIELD OBSERVATIONS: The 40 specimens of Caenolestes fuliginosus that I collected near Papallacta in 1978 and 1980 were trapped at elevations ranging from 3380 to 3840 m. Of these, 39 were taken in Subalpine Rain Forest, and one was trapped in a Polylepis thicket in the páramo zone. Most recorded captures were on the ground: 24 along mossy or muddy stream margins, 5 in narrow runways or tunnels through wet moss, 5 in wet leaf litter beneath tangled shrubs or branches, and 3 in shallow cavities beneath earth banks or root mats. Only three individuals were taken above ground level, on the inclined trunks or horizontal limbs of low, moss­covered trees.