Proechimys brevicauda (Gunther 1876)

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Rodentia - Family Echimyidae, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 1575-1592 : 1584

Proechimys brevicauda (Gunther 1876)

[Proechimys] brevicauda (Gunther 1876) , Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1876: 748.

Type Locality: Peru, Dept. de Loreto, Chamicuros (Río Huallago).

Vernacular Names: Short-tailed Spiny-rat.

Synonyms: Proechimys bolivianus Thomas 1901 ; Proechimys elassopus Osgood 1944 ; Proechimys gularis Thomas 1911 ; Proechimys securus Thomas 1902 .

Distribution: Western Amazonia from S Colombia, E Ecuador, E Peru, N Bolivia, and W Brazil.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc) as P. brevicauda , P. bolivianus , and P. gularis .

Discussion: Listed as a subspecies of longicaudatus by Cabrera (1961:524) and as a member of the longicaudatus group by Patton (1987), but treated as a species by Patton et al. (2000). Karyotype has 2n=28-30 and FN=48-50 ( Gardner and Emmons, 1984; Patton et al., 2000). Likely polytypic, as Gardner and Emmons (1984) suggested gularis is a separate species based on karyotypic grounds and Patton et al. (2000) suggested that elassopus is also distinct, based on morphological and molecular criteria. Anderson (1997) included bolivianus in brevicauda .