Rhipidomys nitela Thomas 1901

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 : 1171

Rhipidomys nitela Thomas 1901

Rhipidomys nitela Thomas 1901 , Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 7, 8: 148.

Type Locality: Guyana, Rupununi Dist., Kanuku Mountains, Kwaimatta, 240 ft (73 m).

Vernacular Names: Guianan Rhipidomys.

Synonyms: Rhipidomys fervidus Thomas 1904 ; Rhipidomys milleri J. A. Allen 1913 ; Rhipidomys yuruanus J. A. Allen 1913 .

Distribution: Amazonian lowlands in S Venezuela, Guianas, and NC Brazil. The reports of the species in Bolivia ( Anderson, 1997) and Colombia ( Tribe, 1996) cannot be confirmed, and the species appears to be confined to Amazonia east of the Rios Negro-Madeira as so far documented (see Voss et al., 2001).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: R. leucodactylus section sensu Tribe (1996). Previously listed either as a race of R. venezuelae ( Gyldenstolpe, 1932) or R. mastacalis (Cabrera, 1961) , but distinct from true venezuelae in Venezuela (see Handley, 1976, who used the species name mastacalis ) and from the mastacalis complex in EC Brazil ( Tribe, 1996). Morphometric and chromosomal variation cautions that populations arranged as nitela represent a composite of two species ( Tribe, 1996; Volobouev and Catzeflis, 2000); Andrades-Miranda et al. (2002 a) considered the 2n = 48 and FN = 68 karyotype to represent R. nitela proper.