Oligoryzomys
Encyclopedia
Oligoryzomys is a genus
of rodent
s in the tribe Oryzomyini
of family Cricetidae
. Many species are known as pygmy rice rats or colilargos. The genus is found from Mexico
to Tierra del Fuego
and includes about 17 species.
In Argentina
and Chile
Oligoryzomys longicaudatus and other members of the genus represent the reservoir for the Hantavirus
strain Andes virus
(ANDV) (Wells et al., 1997; Levis et al., 1998; Cantoni et al., 2001).
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of rodent
Rodent
Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....
s in the tribe Oryzomyini
Oryzomyini
Oryzomyini is a tribe of rodents in the subfamily Sigmodontinae of family Cricetidae. It includes about 120 species in about thirty genera, distributed from the eastern United States to the southernmost parts of South America, including many offshore islands...
of family Cricetidae
Cricetidae
The Cricetidae are a family of rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. It includes true hamsters, voles, lemmings, and New World rats and mice...
. Many species are known as pygmy rice rats or colilargos. The genus is found from Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
to Tierra del Fuego
Tierra del Fuego
Tierra del Fuego is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of a main island Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego divided between Chile and Argentina with an area of , and a group of smaller islands including Cape...
and includes about 17 species.
In Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
and Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
Oligoryzomys longicaudatus and other members of the genus represent the reservoir for the Hantavirus
Hantavirus
Hantaviruses are negative sense RNA viruses in the Bunyaviridae family. Humans may be infected with hantaviruses through rodent bites, urine, saliva or contact with rodent waste products...
strain Andes virus
Andes virus
Andes virus is a hantavirus, which, in South America, is a major causative agent of Hantavirus Cardiopulmonary Syndrome .-Background:...
(ANDV) (Wells et al., 1997; Levis et al., 1998; Cantoni et al., 2001).
Literature cited
- IUCN. 2009. 2009 IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesIUCN Red ListThe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...
. IUCN. Version 2009.2. Retrieved on December 8, 2009. - Musser, G.G. and Carleton, M.D. 2005. Superfamily Muroidea. Pp. 894–1531 in Wilson, D.E. and Reeder, D.M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: a taxonomic and geographic reference. 3rd ed. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols., 2142 pp. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0
- Weksler, M. 2006. Phylogenetic relationships of oryzomyine rodents (Muroidea: Sigmodontinae): separate and combined analyses of morphological and molecular data. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 296:1–149.