Makalata macrura
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
Makalata
Makalata macrura

description: 84.
Long-tailed Armored Tree-rat
Makalata macrura
French: Makalata a longue queue / German: Langschwanz-Breitstachelratte / Spanish: Rata arboricola de cola larga
Other common names: Long-tailed Tree-rat
Taxonomy. Loncheres macrura Wagner, 1842,
“Borba,” mouth of Rio Madeira, Amazonas, Brazil.
Placed in Makalata by J. L. Patton and colleagues in 2000. It appears to be parapatric to the distribution of M. didelphoides, with the two species replacing one another along the lower Rio Negro-Rio Madeira axis. Deep mtDNA clade structure suggests that M. macruras is polytypic at the subspecific or specific level. Monotypic.
Distribution. W Amazon Basin from SE Colombia S through E Ecuador, to NC & EC Peru, then E to S Venezuela and C Brazil to the left bank of lower Rio Negro and lower Rio Madeira.
Descriptive notes. Head-body 207-280 mm, tail 170-242 mm; weight 340-400 g. The Long-tailed Armored Tree-rat is smaller than Red-nosed Armored Tree-rat (M. didelphoides), but it has similar dorsal pelage colors but darker, duller gray ventral color. Dorsum of both species has the same mix of bristles, fine hair, and flexible spines; both species have characteristic reddish muzzle that gives them their common name.
Habitat. Seasonally inundated, tropical lowland evergreen forest, including whitewater varzea and blackwater igap6. Along the Rio Jurua (Brazil), Long-tailed Armored Tree-rats were mainly trapped in tree canopies, although some specimens were caught while swimming in a river following a likely raptor attack. One young individual was found in upland forest.
Food and Feeding. There is no specific information available for this species, but its large cecum and long colon suggest that the Long-tailed Armored Tree-rat is folivorous.
Breeding. The Long-tailed Armored Tree-rat has been reported to have maximum litter size of 1-2 embryos. Pregnant females have been caught in September (Rio Jurua, Brazil) and May (north-western Peru), and a lactating female was collected in May. On the Rio Jurua, three adult males were caught with enlarged testes, one each in September, November, and May.
Activity patterns. Long-tailed Armored Tree-rats are nocturnal.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. There is no information available for this species.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. The Longtailed Armored Tree-rat has a wide distribution and occurs in various primary forest habitats and areas of human disturbances, including gardens, with closed canopies and along stream edges. It is appears rare everywhere, but this is likely a trapping artifact.
Bibliography. Cabrera (1961), Eisenberg (1989), Eisenberg & Redford (1999), Emmons (1990, 1997a, 2005), Patton, Pardinas & D'Elia (2015), Patton, da Silva & Malcolm (2000), Tate (1935), Upham et al. (2013), Wagner (1842), Woods (1993), 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 594, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6623649