Vespucci's Rodent
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| Vespucci's Rodent | ||||||||||||||||
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| Noronhomys vespuccii (Carleton and Olson, 1999) |
Vespucci's Rodent (Noronhomys vespuccii) Is an extinct rodent discovered on Ilha Fernando de Noronha, a small volcanic island off the coast of Brazil. The fossil discovered is from the late Holocene epoc, and it is known that the species was alive in 1503, but it is unknown at what point the species became extinct. The species is different enough in location and characteristics to warrant its own genus (Noronhomys).
The species is named after the florentine explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci, who landed on Ilha Fernando de Noronha on the 10th of August 1503, describing "very big rats" believed to be the Noronhomys vespuccii.
[edit] References
- Carleton, Michael D., Olson, Storrs L.; Amerigo Vespucci and the rat of Fernando de Noronha : a new genus and species of Rodentia (Muridae, Sigmodontinae) from a volcanic island off Brazil's continental shelf. American Museum novitates ; no. 3256
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