Oryzomys nitidus Thomas 1884

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Rodentia - Family Cricetidae, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 955-1189 : 1152

Oryzomys nitidus Thomas 1884

Oryzomys nitidus Thomas 1884 , Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1884: 452.

Type Locality: Perú, Junín Dept., valley of Río Tulumayo, 10 km S San Ramón, Amable Maria, 2000 ft (as located by Gardner and Patton, 1976:42).

Vernacular Names: Elegant Oryzomys.

Synonyms: Oryzomys boliviae Thomas 1901 .

Distribution: Lowland rain forest and Andean foothills, 50-1985 m, of E Perú, E Bolivia, and WC Brazil (Acre and Mato Grosso) (See Musser et al., 1998:Fig. 79; Patton et al., 2000).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: A species formerly included in O. capito (= O. megacephalus ) by Cabrera (1961) or affiliated with O. alfaroi by Hershkovitz (1966 c). Gardner and Patton (1976) provided karyotypic and morphological evidence justifying the specific distinction of O. nitidus from both and listed boliviae , intermedius , and legatus as likely synonyms. Distribution, synonymy, and morphological recognition clarified by Musser et al. (1998), who arrayed O. nitidus with O. emmonsae , O. macconnelli , and O. russatus as a species group; their monophyletic association is generally supported by cytochrome b data but cladistic details differ depending on the study ( Bonvicino and Martins Moreira, 2001; Patton et al., 2000). Detailed karyotypic comparisons of O. nitidus with other nitidus group species presented by Silva et al. (2000); limited resemblance of homologous chromosomal bands indicates that O. nitidus is distantly related to the O. megacephalus ­ O. yunganus assemblage ( Volobouev and Aniskin, 2000).