Olallamys albicauda
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
Olallamys
Olallamys albicauda

description: 69.
White-tailed Olalla Rat
Olallamys albicauda
French: Rat-épineux a queue blanche / German: Olalla-Ratte / Spanish: Rata olalla de cola blanca
Other common names: Colombian Soft-furred Spiny-rat
Taxonomy. Thrinacodus albicauda Gunther, 1879,
“vicinity of Medellin, Colombian Confederation,” Antioquia, Colombia.
L. H. Emmons replaced Gunther’s Thrinacodus with Olallamys in 1988 after recognizing that Gunther’s genus group name was a homonym of an earlier described genus of cartilaginous fish. Two subspecies recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution.
O. a. albicauda Gunther, 1879 — E Andes Range in C Colombia.
O. a. apolinariJ. A. Allen, 1914 — C Andes Range in Colombia.
Descriptive notes. Head—body 150-180 mm, tail 255-260 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. The White-tailed Olalla Rat is arboreal, with soft fur and without spines or bristles, smaller than its congener the Greedy Olalla Rat (O. edax). Dorsal pelt is shaded with reddish and brownish hues; belly is pure yellowish and contrasts slightly with dorsum. Tail is ¢.160% of head-body length, sparsely furred, and longitudinally bicolored, with proximal end reddish brown and distally white. Compared with species of Dactylomys and the Atlantic Bamboo Rat (Kannabateomys amblyonyx), forefeet and hindfeet have claws instead of nails, except for presence of asymmetrical nail on digit two of hindfeet. Compared with other dactylomyinae members, both species of Olallamys have smaller crania and distinct cheekteeth with well-separated lophs and lophids on molars, due to junction between flexus and flexid. Species of Olallamys share anteriorly convergent upper tooth rows with species of Dactylomys, and both genera are distinguished from the Atlantic Bamboo Rat by this feature.
Habitat. Bamboo patches in primary montane rainforest of the Central and Eastern Andes Range in Colombia at elevations of 2300-3300 m. The White-tailed Olalla Rat likely also occupies disturbed forests where bamboo thickets (Chusquea sp., Poaceae) are abundant, based on its presence in scats of the Crab-eating Fox (Cerdocyon thous, Canidae).
Food and Feeding. There is no information available for this species.
Breeding. There is no information available for this species.
Activity patterns. There is no specific information available for this species, but the White-tailed Olalla Rat is probably nocturnal.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. There is no information available for this species.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Data Deficient on The IUCN Red List. Additional ecological studies of the White-tailed Olalla Rat—a rare mountain endemic—are needed.
Bibliography. Allen (1914a), Cabrera (1961), Delgado (2009), Delgado & Zurc (2005), Eisenberg (1989), Emmons (1988, 1990, 1997a, 2005), Gunther (1877a), Patton et al. (2015), 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 pages 587-588, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6623649