Ctenomys mendocinus Philippi 1869
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
Ctenomyidae
Ctenomys
Ctenomys mendocinus

description: 34.
Mendoza Tuco-tuco
Ctenomys mendocinus
French: Tuco-tuco de Mendoza / German: Mendoza-Kammratte / Spanish: Tuco tuco de Mendoza
Taxonomy. Citenomys mendocinus Philippi, 1869,
“Mendoza,” Province of Mendoza, 32°53’ §, 68°49’ W, Argentina.
Ctenomys mendocinus has always been classified in the mendocinusspecies group based on biogeography and molecular methodologies. Chromosomal complement is 2n = 48 or 50 and FN = 68-80, and sperm is simple asymmetric. Monotypic.
Distribution. WC Argentina, E of the Andes in Mendoza, San Luis, and La Pampa provinces.
Descriptive notes. Body length average 262-1 mm (males) and 247-3 mm (females), tail average 82-2 mm (males) and 77-4 mm (females). No specific data are available for body weight. The Mendoza Tuco-tuco is medium-sized. Dorsum varies from light brown to grayish red, with transverse waves of dark hair that vanish in paler venter. Tail is whitish and has median dorsal stripe of longer hair. Feet are covered with thin and white hair. Cranialfeatures include wide rostrum, parietals prominently ridged without sagittal crest, well-developed lambdoid crest,jugals with prominent dorsally projected processes, enlarged infraorbital foramen with no canal for nerve transmission, and large bullae with flat and closely pressed paroccipital processes. Mandible has moderately developed coronoid. Upperincisors are almost orthodont and dark orange.
Habitat. Semiarid to arid grassland and shrub-woodland communities, dominated by Prosopis (Fabaceae) and Larrea (Zygophyllaceae) and with sandy and gravelly soils in the Argentine Low Monte ecoregion, at elevations of 174-3400 m.
Food and Feeding. Mendoza Tuco-tucos prefer to eat grasses to other low vegetation. They often forage aboveground and assume bipedal stance, apparently scanning.
Breeding. Reproduction of the Mendoza Tuco-tuco occurs in July-March. Gestation is c.95 days; mean littersize is 2-8 young. Individuals reach sexual maturity in the breeding season after their birth. Sex ratios are equal, and life expectancy is c.2 years.
Activity patterns. Mendoza Tuco-tucos are active above and below ground.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. Mendoza Tuco-tucos are solitary and strongly territorial. They construct linear burrows; male burrows are longer (51 cm) than female burrows (22 cm).
Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List.
Bibliography. Albanese et al. (2010), Bidau (2015), Busch et al. (2000), Camin (2010), Camin et al. (1995), Contreras & Bidau (1999), Mascheretti et al. (2000), Massarini et al. (1991), Medina et al. (2007), Ortells (1995), Parada et al. (2011), Rosi, Cona & Roig (2002), Rosi, Cona, Roig, Massarini & Verzi (2005), Vitullo et al. (1988).
description: Published as part of Don E. Wilson, Thomas E. Lacher, Jr & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2016, Ctenomyidae, pp. 498-534 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 6 Lagomorphs and Rodents I, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions on page 524, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6588177