Proechimys canicollis
Creators: name: Don E. Wilson
name: Thomas E. Lacher, Jr
name: Russell A. Mittermeier
Publisher: name: Lynx Edicions
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Rodentia
Echimyidae
Proechimys
Proechimys canicollis

description: 32.
Colombian Spiny-rat
Proechimys canicollis
French: Rat-épineux de Colombie / German: Kolumbien-Kurzstachelratte / Spanish: Rata espinosa de Colombia
Taxonomy. Echimys canicollis J. A. Allen, 1899,
“Bonda, Santa Marta District.” Restricted by R. A. Paynter, Jr. in 1997 to “Rio Manzanares, where joined Quebrada Matogiro, 9 miles East of Santa Marta,” Magdalena, Colombia.
This species is monotypic.
Distribution. NE Colombia and NW Venezuela, from the lower Rio Madgalena Valley E to the W margin of Maracaibo Lake.
Descriptive notes. Head-body 225 mm, tail 168 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. The Colombian Spiny-rat is moderate-sized, with proportionately shorttail (75% of head-body length). Pelage is only sparsely intermixed with weakly developed spines, giving body distinctly soft appearance. Aristiforms are long (22-25 mm) and quite narrow (0-02-0-03 mm), and they terminate in long whip-like tips. Dorsal color is pale yellowish brown or pale golden brown, sprinkled with black tipped spines on back and paler and grayer spines on sides. Top of head and nape are grayish, varied with black; sides of head and neck are clear gray, extending onto sides of throat but becoming paler on cheeks. Ventrum is white along midline from throat to inguinal region, but gray lateral bands encroach mid-ventrally from sides, and chin and jowls are gray, completely so in some individuals. Insides of limbs are white and may be continuous across ankle to meet whitish gray upper surfaces of hindfeet. Ears are broad but short, brown in color, and appear naked. Tail of the Colombian Spiny-ratis indistinctly bicolored, blackish above and dull flesh colored below; it is moderately haired, with hairs partially concealing narrow scale annuli that are 13-16 annuli/cm. Skull of Colombian Spiny-rat is moderate in size and, except for distinctly short and broad rostrum, conforms to general shape of other species of Proechimys. Temporal ridges are absent or only weakly extend from supraorbital ledge onto anterior parietals. Incisive foramina are broad and oval, with weakly developed postero-lateral flanges and thus anterior palate that exhibits only faint grooves; premaxillary part of septum is broad and long and occupies at least one-half of opening; maxillary part is moderately to weakly developed, always in contact with premaxilla, and sometimes with keel that extends limitedly onto anterior palate; vomer part of septum is usually hidden from view. Floor of infraorbital foramen is smooth, with only occasionally barely perceptible groove. Mesopterygoid fossa is relatively deep, extends to anterior one-half of M? and terminates in acute angle averaging 54°. Post-orbital process of zygoma is moderately well developed and may be comprised completely, or mostly, by either squamosal orjugal in about equal frequency. Cheekteeth are simplest of any species of Proechimys, with very uniform counterfold pattern of 3-2-2-2 for upper series and 2-2-2-2 for lower series. The Colombian Spiny-rat is the only species of Proechimys with only two folds on dP,. Baculum is relatively short (length 7-7-8-1 mm) and stout (proximal width 2:6-2-8 mm; distal width 2:6-2-8 mm) and has rounded base, weakly concave sides, and rather flat distal tip, with only weakly developed apical wings. It is similar in general size and characteristics to those of members of the goeldir-species group. Chromosomal complement is 2n = 24 and FN = 44.
Habitat. Dry tropical evergreen and deciduous forests and human landscapes, such as croplands and orchards, in Caribbean lowlands and adjacent foothills of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and Sierra de Perija from sea level to elevations of ¢.1700 m. The Colombian Spiny-rat is terrestrial.
Food and Feeding. Diet of the Colombian Spiny-rat was reported to include fruit, fungi, and seeds.
Breeding. There is no information available for this species.
Activity patterns. There is no specific information available for this species, but the Colombian Spiny-rat is presumably nocturnal.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. There is no specific information available for this species, but the Colombian Spiny-rat is probably solitary.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. The Colombian Spiny-rat is common overits limited distribution, tolerant to habitat disturbance, and present in several protected parks; it is unlikely to be declining. Additional studies on distribution, habitat, abundance, ecology, and conservation threats to Colombian Spiny-rat are needed.
Bibliography. Aguilera & Corti (1994), Aguilera, Reig & Pérez-Zapata (1995), Aguilera, Sanginés & Pérez-Zapata (1998), Allen (1899a, 1899b, 1904), Benado et al. (1979), Corti et al. (2001), Eisenberg (1989), Emmons (1990, 1997a), Garagna et al. (1997), Patton (1987), Patton & Gardner (1972), Patton & Leite (2015), Patton & Reig (1989), Paynter (1997), Reig et al. (1980), Woods & Kilpatrick (2005).
description: Published as part of Don E. Wilson, Thomas E. Lacher, Jr & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2016, Echimyidae, pp. 552-604 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 6 Lagomorphs and Rodents I, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions on page 570, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6623649