Cuscomys oblativus

Cuscomys oblativus
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Suborder: Hystricomorpha
Family: Abrocomidae
Genus: Cuscomys
Species: C. oblativus
Binomial name
Cuscomys oblativus

Cuscomys oblativus known as the Machu Picchu Arboreal Chinchilla Rat, is a large species of South American chinchilla rat, known from remains found in 1912, buried alongside people in ancient Inca tombs at Machu Picchu in Peru. Although considered extinct by the IUCN, photos of a rodent taken at Machu Picchu in late 2009 likely show this species.[2]

Originally assigned to the genus Abrocoma, recent studies showed it to be more closely allied to Cuscomys ashaninka, a species unknown to science until 1999.

References

  1. ^ Pacheco, V., Zeballos, Z., Vivar, E. & Dunnum, J. (2008). Cuscomys oblativa. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 5 January 2009.
  2. ^ Castillo, G. M. (2009). (Spanish) Detectan en Cusco a roedor declarado extinto. El Comercio (Peru). 12-08-2009.