Endangered
Magdalena Rat
Xenomys nelsoni
Magdalena Rat is a rodent in the family Cricetidae (order Rodentia) — Xenomys nelsoni, recorded as Endangered.
Appearance
The general body colour is cinnamon to yellowish brown, being paler on the head and fading to creamy white on the underparts. It can be distinguished from other local rat-like species by the presence of white spots above the eyes and behind the ears. The cheeks are also marked with white fur. The tail is both hairy and scaly, and is dark brown in colour.
The Magdalena rat is a relatively large member of its family, measuring 30 to 34 cm (12 to 13 in) in length, among them the 14 to 17 cm (5.5 to 6.7 in) tail. Adults weigh an average of 113 g (4.0 oz).
Range and habitat
The species is endemic to Colima and southwest Jalisco, along the Pacific coast of Mexico. It is estimated to inhabit an area of no more than 4,600 km2 (1,800 sq mi). Within this region, it is found in dense tropical forests at elevations up to 450 m (1,480 ft).
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Habits
The species is arboreal and nocturnal.
In crisis
Magdalena Rat is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Magdalena Rat, Wikidata item Q1550989. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
