Pattonomys flavidus
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
Pattonomys
Pattonomys flavidus

description: 76.
Yellow Speckled Tree-rat
Pattonomys flavidus
French: Rat-épineux jaunatre / German: Gelbe Tupfelbaumratte / Spanish: Rata arboricola de manchas amarillas
Taxonomy. Loncheres flavidus Hollister, 1914,
“El Valle [= El Valle del Espiritu Santo], Margarita Island,” Nueva Esparta, Venezuela.
This species is monotypic.
Distribution. Margarita I, off the NC coast of Venezuela.
Descriptive notes. Head-body 252 mm, tail 248 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. The Yellow Speckled Tree-rat is medium-sized but larger than Carriker’s Speckled Tree-rat (P. carrikeri) and the Orinocan Speckled Tree-rat (P. punctatus). Upperparts of the Yellow Speckled Tree-rat are tinged brown and pale gray, with mid-dorsum mixed with yellow-buff or ocherous and black. Flanks are buffier than on other species of Pattonomys. Venter is cream, lacking any distinct pectoral or abdominal stripes. Dorsal fur has long and stiff black-tipped bristle guard hairs and broad spines that are conspicuously white tipped and abundant over rump and especially neartail. Finer underfur is ocherous or yellowish, which gives pelage an overall brown, ocherous, or yellowish tinge. Head and flanks are grayish. Tail is 98-101% of headbody length and reddish brown. Tail is covered with short hairs, and tail scales are visible. There are two pairs of lateral mammae. Skull of the Yellow Speckled Tree-rat shares narrowed rostrum, more spatulate nasals, and more inflated bullae of Carriker’s Speckled Tree-rat, but it differs from all other congeners by having zygomatic arches, when viewed dorsally, that taper anteriorly from jugal-squamosal suture, and strikingly deep mandible from below tooth rows to base of angular process.
Habitat. There is no specific information available for this species, but the Yellow Speckled Tree-rat is presumably arboreal judging from its overall morphology.
Food and Feeding. There is no specific information available for this species, but the Yellow Speckled Tree-rat is presumably herbivorous.
Breeding. There is no information available for this species.
Activity patterns. There is no specific information available for this species, but the Yellow Speckled Tree-ratis reportedly nocturnal.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. There is no information available for this species.
Status and Conservation. Not assessed on The IUCN Red List. Xerophytic habitat on Isla Margarita is rapidly vanishing, and the Yellow Speckled Tree-rat might deserve Endangered status. Additional studies on distribution, habitat, abundance, ecology, and conservations threats are needed.
Bibliography. Allen & Chapman (1893), Emmons (2005), Hershkovitz (1948), Hollister (1914b), Patton et al. (2015), Pittier & Tate (1932), Tate (1935, 1939).
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 592, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6623649