Chaetomys subspinosus (Olfers 1818)

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Rodentia - Family Erethizontidae, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 1545-1550 : 1546

Chaetomys subspinosus (Olfers 1818)

[Hystrix] subspinosus Olfers 1818 , Neue Bibl. Reisenb.: 211.

Type Locality: Brazil, N Bahia, Salvador.

Vernacular Names: Bristle-spined Rat.

Synonyms: Chaetomys moricandi (Pictet 1943) ; Chaetomys tortilis (Olfers 1820) .

Distribution: Atlantic coastal forest of SE Brazil from S Sergipe state to N Rio de Janeiro, including easternmost Minas Gerais.

Conservation: U.S. ESA – Endangered; IUCN – Vulnerable. More common in suitable habitats than previously thought ( Oliver and Santos, 1991:17), and may be quite common near Urucuca in S Bahia.

Discussion: Voss and Angermann (1997) indicated that Weid (1826) incorrectly gave the type locality as Cametá, in Pará state of Brazil, that Ávila-Pires (1967) erroneously emended the type to Ilhéus in Bahia state, and document that the type material was collected from Salvador. See Oliver and Santos (1991) for discussion of the confusion surrounding the distribution of this species. Hershkovitz (1959 a) and Cabrera (1961) listed rutila ( Olfers, 1818) and volubilis ( Olfers, 1818) in their synonymies for C. subspinosus but H. volubilis Olfers, 1818 is a nomen nudum, and H. rutila Olfers, 1818 , is unidentifiable, although possibly a Coendou nycthemera ( Voss and Angermann, 1997) .