Browsing by Author "Carleton, Michael D."
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Item Amerigo Vespucci and the rat of Fernando de Noronha : a new genus and species of Rodentia (Muridae, Sigmodontinae) from a volcanic island off Brazil's continental shelf. American Museum novitates ; no. 3256(New York, NY : American Museum of Natural History, 1999) Carleton, Michael D.; Olson, Storrs L.; Vespucci, Amerigo, 1451-1512."Noronhomys vespuccii, a new genus and species (Muridae: Sigmodontinae), is described from Ilha Fernando de Noronha, a small volcanic island located 345 km northeast of Cabo de São Roque, Brazil. The abundant cranial and postcranial material of the fossil rodent was recovered from old beach dunes that are late Quaternary in age (probably late Holocene). Noronhomys vespuccii retains incomplete mesolophs on its moderately hypsodont molars and is compared with other tetralophodont oryzomyines (sensu Voss and Carleton, 1993), especially Lundomys molitor and species of Holochilus. Morphometric analyses conducted separately on craniodental, mandibular, and femoral measurements reveal the sample of Noronhomys to be equally differentiated from those of Lundomys and Holochilus. Based on the criterion of parsimony, phylogenetic analyses of 35 craniodental characters strongly support the recent common ancestry of the new form and Holochilus. The clade (Pseudoryzomys (Lundomys (Holochilus-Noronhomys))) appears to represent a lineage of semiaquatic rodents that differentiated from an oryzomyine ancestry in savanna landscapes of southern South America. Morphometric results and anatomical details of the pelvic limb, however, suggest that Noronhomys was not a semiaquatic form. It is hypothesized that such aquatic skeletomuscular adaptations were lost (reversed) when the progenitor of Noronhomys became stranded on a small oceanic island where palustrine habitats were scarce or absent. The specific patronym of the extinct rodent refers to Amerigo Vespucci's disputed landfall on Fernando de Noronha in 1503 and his possible sighting of 'very large rats' on that island. If the species Noronhomys vespuccii were alive in 1503, it became extinct shortly thereafter due to the usual anthropogenic causes that have extirpated so many vertebrate species on islands"--P. 2.Item A new genus for Hesperomys molitor Winge and Holochilus magnus Hershkovitz (Mammalia, Muridae) : with an analysis of its phylogenetic relationships. American Museum novitates ; no. 3085(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1993) Voss, Robert S.; Carleton, Michael D.Item A new species of the Eliurus majori complex (Rodentia, Muroidea, Nesomyidae) from south-central Madagascar, with remarks on emergent species groupings in the genus Eliurus ; American Museum novitates, no. 3547(New York, NY : American Museum of Natural History, 2007) Carleton, Michael D.; Goodman, Steven M.A new species of Eliurus, E. danieli (Nesomyidae: Nesomyinae), is described from the Parc National de l'Isalo in south-central Madagascar. Although geographically intermediate to eastern and western forms, diagnostic traits convincingly relate the new species to E. majori and E. penicillatus, forms distributed primarily in eastern humid forest; it is morphometrically most similar to E. penicillatus. In view of the increase in number of Eliurus species (11 now described), discussion is devoted to emerging species associations (5 are identified) and to taxonomic and distributional problems introduced by the accumulation of larger series and new localities over the past decade.Item A new species of the rodent genus Oecomys (Cricetidae, Sigmodontinae, Oryzomyini) from eastern Bolivia, with emended definitions of O. concolor (Wagner) and O. mamorae (Thomas). (American Museum novitates, no. 3661)(New York, NY : American Museum of Natural History., 2009) Carleton, Michael D.; Emmons, Louise.; Musser, Guy G.We describe a new species of Oecomys, O. sydandersoni (Cricetidae: Sigmodontinae), from the Parque Nacional Noel Kempff Mercado in eastern Bolivia. One of its diagnostic traits, a derived carotid circulatory plan, provides morphological evidence for its close relationship to O. concolor and O. mamorae among the 15 species of Oecomys currently recognized. Notwithstanding this shared trait, other morphological contrasts and morphometric analyses demonstrate the sharp differentiation of the eastern Bolivian form from both of those species. Oecomys sydandersoni, n. sp., is arboreal and was encountered above ground on limbs and woody vines only in densely wooded hummocks scattered through grassland, in contrast to adjacent closed tropical deciduous forest where three other species of Oecomys (O. bicolor, O. roberti, O. trinitatis) were obtained. The new species represents the fourth sigmodontine rodent to be named from this restricted region within eastern Bolivia since 1999. Its documentation served as a platform to summarize the nomenclatural history, morphological recognition, and geographic distribution of O. concolor (Wagner, 1845) and O. mamorae (Thomas, 1906) based on fresh examination of all type material and museum specimens.Item A review of the Eliurus tanala complex (Rodentia, Muroidea, Nesomyidae), with description of a new species from dry forests of western Madagascar. (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 430)(American Museum of Natural History., 2019-05-08) Jansa, Sharon A.; Carleton, Michael D.; Soarimalala, Voahangy.; Rakotomalala, Zafimahery.; Goodman, Steven M.Based on 372 specimens examined, we integrated information from two mitochondrial and four nuclear gene sequences, morphological comparisons and morphometric analyses, as well as distributional patterns and ecological occurrences to revise the Eliurus tanala species group (Nesomyinae), a rodent complex endemic to Madagascar’s forests. These evidentiary sources generally proved concordant, supporting description of a new species, E. tsingimbato, indigenous to western dry deciduous forest, mostly associated with limestone karst (tsingy); the two other members of this species group, E. ellermani and E. tanala, are restricted to eastern montane humid forest. Phylogenetic relationships among the three species were poorly resolved, suggesting that their speciation was both recent and rapid. We encountered one instance of conflict between mitochondrial DNA and all other data sources, which we interpret as incomplete lineage sorting involving a population of the new western species. Attention was focused on molecular and morphometric discrimination of the E. tanala and E. antsingy groups where their species distributions overlap in limestone-associated forests of western and northern Madagascar. Phyletic divisions demonstrated within the E. tanala species group are discussed apropos of current models of speciation identified for Malagasy forest-dwelling organisms.Item Systematic mammalogy : contributions in honor of Guy G. Musser. (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 331)(New York : American Museum of Natural History., 2009) Voss, Robert S.; Carleton, Michael D.; Anderson, Robert P.; Gutiérrez, Eliécer E.; Arroyo-Cabrales, Joaquín.; Flynn, Lawrence J. (Lawrence John), 1932-; Gardner, Alfred L.; Giannini, Norberto P.; Almeida, Francisca Cunha.; Simmons, Nancy B.; Heaney, Lawrence R.; Balete, Danilo S., 1960-; Rickart, Eric A.; Veluz, M. Josefa.; Jansa, Sharon A.; Helgen, K. M. (Kristofer M.); Helgen, Lauren E.; Holden, Mary Ellen.; Levine, Rebecca S.; Jenkins, Paulina D.; Lunde, Darrin P.; Moncrieff, Clive B.; Myers, Philip, 1947-; Catzeflis, François.; Carmignotto, Ana Paula.; Barreiro Rodríguez, Josefina.; Wahlert, John H.; Musser, Guy G.Contents: They sort out like nuts and bolts : a scientific biography of Guy G. Musser / Michael D. Carleton -- Taxonomy, distribution, and natural history of the genus Heteromys (Rodentia: Heteromyidae) in central and eastern Venezuela, with the description of a new species from the Cordillera de la Costa / Robert P. Anderson and Eliécer E. Gutiérrez -- Review of the Oryzomys couesi complex (Rodentia: Cricetidae: Sigmodontinae) in western Mexico / Michael D. Carleton and Joaquin Arroyo-Cabrales -- The antiquity of Rhizomys and independent acquisition of fossorial traits in subterranean muroids / Lawrence J. Flynn -- A new species of Reithrodontomys, subgenus Aporodon (Cricetidae: Neotominae), from the highlands of Costa Rica, with comments on Costa Rican and Panamanian Reithrodontomys / Alfred L. Gardner and Michael D. Carleton -- Phylogenetic relationships of harpyionycterine megabats (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae) / Norberto P. Giannini, Francisca Cunha Almeida, and Nancy B. Simmons -- A new genus and species of small "tree-mouse" (Rodentia, Muridae) related to the Philippine giant cloud rats / Lawrence R. Heaney, Danilo S. Balete, Eric A. Rickart, M. Josefa Veluz, and Sharon A. Jansa -- Biodiversity and biogeography of the moss-mice of New Guinea : a taxonomic revision of Pseudohydromys (Muridae: Murinae) / Kristofer M. Helgen and Lauren E. Helgen -- Systematic revision of sub-Saharan African dormice (Rodentia: Gliridae). Part 2, Description of a new species of Graphiurus from the central Congo Basin, including morphological and ecological niche comparisons with G. crassicaudatus and G. lorraineus / Mary Ellen Holden and Rebecca S. Levine -- Descriptions of new species of Crocidura (Soricomorpha: Soricidae) from mainland Southeast Asia, with synopses of previously described species and remarks on biogeography / Paulina D. Jenkins, Darrin P. Lunde, and Clive B. Moncrieff -- The six opossums of Félix de Azara : identification, taxonomic history, neotype designations, and nomenclatural recommendations / Robert S. Voss, Philip Myers, François Catzeflis, Ana Paula Carmignotto, and Josefina Barreiro -- Skull and dentition of Willeumys korthi, nov. gen. et sp., a cricetid rodent from the Oligocene (Orellan) of Wyoming / John H. Wahlert.Item Systematic studies of Madagascar's endemic rodents (Muroidea, Nesomyinae) : an annotated gazetteer of collecting localities of known forms. American Museum novitates ; ; no. 2987.(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1990) Carleton, Michael D.; Schmidt, David F.Item Systematic studies of Madagascar's endemic rodents (Muroidea: Nesomyinae) : revision of the genus Eliurus. American Museum novitates ; no. 3087(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1994) Carleton, Michael D.Item Systematic studies of oryzomyine rodents (Muridae, Sigmodontinae) : a synopsis of Microryzomys. Bulletin of the AMNH ; no. 191([New York] : American Museum of Natural History, 1989) Carleton, Michael D.; Musser, Guy G."The genus Microryzomys contains certain small-bodied, long-tailed oryzomyine rodents that are endemic to the northern and central Andes, their distribution describing an arc from northern Venezuela, through Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, to central Bolivia. Based on the examination of over 900 museum specimens representing 105 principal collecting localities, two species, without subspecific divisions, are recognized: M. minutus (dryas Thomas, d. humilior Thomas, fulvirostris Allen, and aurillus Thomas in synonomy) and M. altissimus (a. hylaeus Hershkovitz and a. chotanus Hershkovitz in synonomy). Microryzomys minutus can be distinguished from its congener altissimus by a combination of size and proportional differences, which were underscored in principal component analysis of 16 craniodental and 3 external variables using representative population samples of each species. These results, together with 14 locality records of sympatry (or parapatry) in the mountains of Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, support an interpretation of only two biological species. Populations of Microryzomys altissimus are more restricted geographically, altitudinally, and perhaps ecologically than are those of M. minutus. The geographic limits of M. minutus define the distributional boundaries of the genus, whereas, M. altissimus occurs only in the Cordillera Central of Colombia, throughout the Andes of Ecuador, to the highlands of central Peru. Locality records document that M. altissimus occupies a higher altitudinal zone (mostly from 2500 to 4000 m) compared to M. minutus (mostly from 1500 to 3500 m); most instances of sympatry occur within the 2500 to 3500 m interval. Information gleaned from specimen tags and fieldnotes suggests that the two species inhabit different morphoclimatic vegetation zones consistent with the altitudinal belts they occupy. Microryzomys minutus dwells in a variety of wet, cool Andean forests ranging from lower and upper montane rain forest to subalpine rain forest; at its upper altitudinal limits, it may frequent various habitats found at the ecotone between upper Andean forests and páramo. Microryzomys altissimus is more regularly associated with páramo environments, the forest-páramo ecotone, and subalpine rain forest. Both species range on either side of the Huancabamba Depression in northern Peru without evidence of appreciable differentiation. Neither species penetrates the Altiplano biome in southern Peru and Bolivia; the southernmost distribution of M. minutus adheres to wet forest along Amazon-facing slopes east of the Altiplano. Examination of external, cranial, dental and gastric morphology revealed a suite of qualitative traits, apparently unrelated to overall size, by which species of Microryzomys can be distinguished from those of Oligoryzomys and from Oryzomys palustris, the type species of Oryzomys. The concordance of these discrete character states contradicts the notion that Microryzomys and Oligoryzomys are artificial constructs used to segregate the smaller species within a speciose genus highly varied in body size. Instead, such character associations support the monophyly of species assigned to Microryzomys and to Oligoryzomys relative to other groups of oryzomine rodents. Emended diagnoses, framed at the generic level, are provided for these two taxa. Evaluation of 20 qualitative characters reveals that Oryzomys palustris is highly differentiated from both Microryzomys and Oligoryzomys, which share many traits thought to be plesiomorphic. Certain derived character states suggest that Microryzomys and Oligoryzomys are sister taxa, but the evidence for a close relationship is weak, and this possibility must await further corroboration and the study of a broader array of oryzomines"--P. 3.Item Systematic studies of oryzomyine rodents (Muridae, Sigmodontinae) : diagnoses and distributions of species formerly assigned to Oryzomys "capito". Bulletin of the AMNH ; no. 236([New York] : American Museum of Natural History, 1998) Musser, Guy G.; Carleton, Michael D.; Brothers, Eric M.; Gardner, Alfred L."We describe the morphological species boundaries and geographic distributions of 10 Neotropical Oryzomys based on analyses of museum specimens (skins and skulls, examples preserved in fluid, chromosomal spreads, and information about collection sites from skin tags, field catalogs, and other sources). These species have been regarded as members of an Oryzomys capito complex and for a long time were consolidated into a single entity identified as O. capito. Our study documents the following: 1. Defining the limits of species within the O. capito complex first requires a comprehensive review and rigorous definition of O. capito itself. We consider Fischer's (1814) Mus megacephalus to be valid and available, designate a neotype to bear the name, and reinstate it as a senior synonym of capito Olfers (1818). We then provide a working definition of O. megacephalus and its close relative, O. laticeps, derived from analyses of morphometric variation, estimates of geographic distributions, and evaluations of synonyms. In our view, O. megacephalus occurs in Amazonia but also extends into eastern Paraguay; its synonyms are capito Olfers (1818), cephalotes Desmarest (1819), velutinus Allen and Chapman (1893), goeldi Thomas (1897), modestus Allen (1899), and perenensis Allen (1901). Oryzomys laticeps Lund (1840) occurs in the Atlantic Forest region of eastern Brazil. We designate a lectotype for laticeps and allocate the names saltator Winge (1887) and oniscus Thomas (1904) as synonyms. 2. We provide the first comprehensive taxonomic revision of Oryzomys yunganus Thomas (1902). Its range covers tropical evergreen rainforest formations in the Guiana Region and the Amazon Basin where, as documented by voucher specimens, it has been collected at the same localities as O. megacephalus, O. nitidus, and O. macconnelli. Specimens of O. yunganus can be distinguished from those of the other three by a combination of body size, pelage texture and coloration, pattern of carotid arterial circulation, occlusal patterns of second upper and lower molars, cranial proportions, and chromosomal features. Appreciable intraspecific geographic variation occurs in diploid number of chromosomes and frequency of occurrence of the hypothenar plantar pad, but sampling inadequacies obscure the significance of this variation. Large body size is characteristic of populations in the western Amazon Basin and in the tepui region of eastern Venezuela; smaller size characterizes populations in the Guianas and along the eastern margin of the Amazon Basin. No other scientific name has been correctly associated with the species. Samples from Mirador, Palmera, and Mera in the western Andean foothills of central Ecuador possess a combination of pelage, cranial, and dental traits that distinguish them from all samples of O. yunganus. These specimens are the basis for a new species we describe here, one that is more closely related to O. yunganus than to any other member of the former O. 'capito' complex. 3. We redescribe Oryzomys bolivaris (reviewed by Pine, 1971, under the name O. bombycinus), amplify its geographic range, and contrast it with O. talamancae and O. alfaroi, two sympatric congeners with which it is often confused. A distinctive set of morphological traits allows unambiguous identification of specimens belonging to O. bolivaris. It is a trans-Andean species recorded from very wet tropical evergreen rain forests extending from eastern Honduras and Nicaragua through Costa Rica and Panamá to western Colombia and Ecuador. Allen's (1901) bolivaris is the oldest name for this species; castaneus Allen (1901), rivularis Allen (1901), bombycinus Goldman (1912), alleni Goldman (1915), and orinus Pearson (1939) are synonyms. 4. We revise the definition of Oryzomys talamancae Allen (1891) provided by Musser and Williams (1985), document additional specimens, describe karyotypes from Ecuadoran and Venezuelan samples, and contrast its morphology, chromosomes, and distribution with those of O. alfaroi and O. megacephalus. The geographic distribution of O. talamancae is also trans-Andean, but it inhabits a wider variety of habitats than does O. bolivaris. We also provide a new synonymy and identify the following scientific names as synonyms of O. talamancae: mollipilosus Allen (1899), magdalenae Allen (1899), villosus Allen (1899), sylvaticus Thomas (1900), panamensis Thomas (1901), medius Robinson and Lyon (1901), and carrikeri Allen (1908). 5. We present hypotheses of species boundaries of four morphologically similar species that we identify as members of the Oryzomys nitidus group: O. nitidus Thomas (1884), O. macconnelli Thomas (1910), O. russatus Wagner (1848), and a species described as new. We recognize the four species by morphological and chromosomal traits, and contrast characteristics of each species with one another. One synonym, boliviae Thomas (1901), is associated with O. nitidus, and two scientific names, incertus Allen (1913) and mureliae Allen (1915), are allocated to O. macconnelli. Synonyms of O. russatus are physodes Brants (1827), intermedia Leche (1886), coronatus Winge (1887), lamia Thomas (1901), legatus Thomas (1925), kelloggi Ávila-Pires (1959), and moojeni Ávila-Pires (1959). We designate lectotypes for russatus and intermedia and identify the holotype of coronatus. Based on voucher specimens, the geographic distribution of O. nitidus is mainly along the Andean foothills and adjacent lowlands in Perú, Bolivia, and nearby western Brazil, but scattered records document its eastward extension through south-central Brazil to Paraguay and northeastern Argentina. Oryzomys macconnelli inhabits the tropical evergreen rain forests of Amazonia. Its distribution partially overlaps that of O. nitidus in western Amazonia, where the two species have been collected together at one locality in Perú, and it is sympatric with the new species, which is recorded only from the lower regions of rios Xingu and Tocantins in northern Pará, Brazil. The distribution of O. russatus is documented by specimens from southeastern and south-central Brazil, southern Bolivia, and northern Argentina; its range is allopatric to those of O. macconnelli, the new species, and O. nitidus except in southern Bolivia, where the latter was collected at the same site with O. russatus. We also examined types and descriptions of taxa associated with Oryzomys subflavus and O. ratticeps to determine if any of those names actually reference members of the O. nitidus group. Although the original description of subflavus Wagner (1842) is vague, the holotype clearly represents an example of that very distinctive species; vulpinus Lund (1840), for which we designate a lectotype, and vulpinoides Schinz (1845) are synonyms of O. subflavus. The oldest name for the species currently known as Oryzomys ratticeps is Mus angouya Fischer (1814), a name not based on a specimen but on Azara's (1801) description of 'Rat troisième, ou Rat Angouya.' Azara's account is so general that it could also apply to individuals of O. subflavus, O. nitidus, or O. russatus. To stabilize the nomenclature of these species, we designate a neotype for Mus angouya Fischer (1814) and treat the following scientific names as synonyms: buccinatus Olfers (1818), leucogaster Wagner (1845), ratticeps Hensel (1872), rex Winge (1887), tropicius Thomas (1924), and paraganus Thomas (1924). We also designate lectotypes for leucogaster and ratticeps. We have not analyzed phylogenetic relationships among the species in the former O. 'capito' complex discussed here. Documenting morphological and distributional boundaries of other biological species now grouped in the genus Oryzomys (alfaroi and its close relatives, for example) must precede, in our view, attempts at phylogenetic reconstruction"--P. 5-6.