Rhipidomys latimanus Tomes 1860

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 : 1169

Rhipidomys latimanus Tomes 1860

Rhipidomys latimanus Tomes 1860 , Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1860: 213.

Type Locality: Ecuador, Chimborazo Prov., Pallatanga, 1485 m.

Vernacular Names: Broad-footed Rhipidomys.

Synonyms: Rhipidomys cocalensis J. A. Allen 1912 ; Rhipidomys microtis Thomas 1896 ; Rhipidomys mollissimus J. A. Allen 1912 ; Rhipidomys pictor Thomas 1904 ; Rhipidomys quindianus J. A. Allen 1913 ; Rhipidomys scandens Goldman 1913 .

Distribution: Mid-elevation Andean forests, about 450-2200 m, of C and W Colombia, C Ecuador, and extreme N Perú; allopatric populations in easternmost Panamá.

Conservation: IUCN – Vulnerable as R. scandens , Lower Risk (lc) as R. latimanus .

Discussion: R. leucodactylus section sensu Tribe (1996). Includes scandens Goldman , previously recognized as a species (e.g., Handley, 1966a; Musser and Carleton, 1993) but which Tribe (1996) placed in full synonymy under R. l. latimanus . Cabrera (1961) also considered fulviventer and venustus as subspecies of R. latimanus , but these two forms are clearly distinct from the latimanus and venezuelae complex in northern South America ( Handley, 1976; Tribe, 1996). Karyotype reported by Gardner and Patton (1976).

Handley (1976) suggested that Andean populations in E Colombia and N Venezuela, which he identified as R. venezuelae , may form the eastern component of R. latimanus , and Tribe (1996) formally arranged the former as a subspecies of the latter. Tribe’s morphometric analyses, however, disclose appreciable differentiation between the taxa; his results, and the biogeographic complexity documented for other groups distributed over these same Andean ranges, persuade us to provisionally retain the two as separate species. While undoubtedly closely related, the issue of their synonymy merits unambiguous verification with other data .