Darwin's Rice Rat

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Darwin's Rice Rat
Conservation status
Extinct (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Rodentia Family: Cricetidae Subfamily: Sigmodontinae Genus: Nesoryzomys Species: †N. darwini
Binomial name
†Nesoryzomys darwini

The Darwin's Rice Rat or Darwin's Galapagos Mouse (Nesoryzomys darwini) lived on Indefatigable Island in the Galapagos Islands. It was probably nocturnal and inhabited burrows or rock crevices under bushes. Only four specimens exist, collected by Frank Wonder between 12 and 16 January 1929. This extinction may have been caused by competition and disease created by the introduction of nonnative brown and black rats.

[edit] External source

• Flannery, Tim & Schouten, Peter (2001). A Gap in Nature: Discovering the World's Extinct Animals. Atlantic Monthly Press, New York. ISBN 0-87113-797-6. 

[edit] References

• Baillie (1996). Nesoryzomys darwini. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is listed as extinct