Round-tailed muskrat

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Round-tailed muskrat
Temporal range: Middle Pleistocene – Recent
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Cricetidae
Subfamily: Arvicolinae
Tribe: Neofibrini
Genus: Neofiber
True, 1884
Species: N. alleni
Binomial name
Neofiber alleni
True, 1884

The round-tailed muskrat (Neofiber alleni) is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae, sometimes called the Florida water rat.[2] It is the only species in the genus Neofiber. It is found only in the southeastern United States. Its natural habitat is swamps.

Description

The round-tailed muskrat is a semi-aquatic and nocturnal species native to the southeastern United States.[3] There is limited sexual dimorphism among round-tailed muskrats with female adults weighing an average of 262.0 grams and male adults measuring at a slightly heavier average of 279 grams.[3] The round-tailed muskrat feeds on emergent aquatic grasses,[4] including aquatic plant stems, seeds and roots, to sustain its herbivorous lifestyle.[5] The most prominent predators of the round-tailed muskrat are marsh hawks and barn owls, but most predation occurred when the round-tailed muskrats were found outside their normal territory, having been displaced by floods.[3] The pelage of a newly born round-tailed muskrat varies from gray to ash-gray. Adult round-tailed muskrats have a brown pelage with pale fur on the belly. This change in coat color is the result of a juvenile molt (between 7 and 30 days post-partum) and a subadult molt (between 35 to 50 days post-partum). Molting in round-tailed muskrats has been observed throughout the year, but is more prevalent during the autumn months.[3]

Distribution

The round-tailed muskrat is found through much of Florida and into southeastern Georgia, with the exception of northeastern Florida.[6] This present day distribution is consistent with round-tailed muskrat fossils found in several Florida locations from the late Pleistocene.[7] Population densities of round-tailed muskrats average between 100 and 120 animals per acre of land.[3]

Habitat

Round-tailed muskrats have shown preference for large, high quality wetland habitats in Florida and southeastern Georgia that have well-connected patches.[8] Land areas that experience high grazing pressure from cattle are less likely to house many (if any) animals due to the negative effect grazing has on wetland grass available to round-tailed muskrats.[8] In addition to actively selecting habitats to disperse to, round-tailed muskrats shift among 10–15 rest sites within their home habitat ranges.[9] Round-tailed muskrats live slightly above water-level in their wetland habitats. Their shelter consists of lodges, located on a layer of dense vegetation, that have been woven out of plant material, and they feed on feeding platforms located above water-level.[10] Round-tailed muskrats have been described to be social mammals, but it has been suggested that they may live in colonies only when there is a shortage of suitable habitat.[11]

References

  1. ↑ Linzey, A.V. & NatureServe (Jackson, D.R., Bergstrom, B. & Hammerson, G.) (2011). "Neofiber alleni". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 18 January 2012.  Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern.
  2. ↑ "Florida water rat", Encyclopædia Britannica online, retrieved August 14, 2008
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Birkenholz, D. (1963). "A study of the life history and ecology of the round-tailed muskrat (Neofiber alleni True) in north-central Florida". Ecol. Monogr. 33 (3): 187–213. doi:10.2307/1942628. JSTOR 1942628. 
  4. ↑ Lefebre, L. W. and Tilmant, J. T. (1992). Round-tailed muskrat (Neofiber alleni). pp. 276–286 in Rare and endangered biota of Florida. Vol. I. Mammals (S. R. Humphrey, ed.). University Press of Florida, Gainesville.
  5. ↑ Porter, R.P. (1953). A contribution to the life history of the water rat, Neofiber alleni. M.S. thesis, Univ. Miami.
  6. ↑ Paul, J. R. 1967. Round-tailed muskrat in west central Florida. Quart. Jour. Florida Acad. Sci. 30:227–229.
  7. ↑ Ray, C. E. 1957. A list, bibliography, and index of the fossil vertebrates of Florida. Florida Geol. Surv. Spec. Publ. 3:1–175
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Schooley, R. L. and Branch, L. C. (2005). "Survey techniques for determining occupancy of isolated wetlands by round-tailed muskrats". Southeastern Naturalist 4 (4): 745–756. doi:10.1656/1528-7092(2005)004[0745:STFDOO]2.0.CO;2. JSTOR 3878236. 
  9. ↑ Schooley, R. L., and Branch, L. C. (2006). "Space use by roundtailed muskrats in isolated wetlands". Journal of Mammalogy 87 (3): 495–500. doi:10.1644/05-MAMM-A-249R1.1. JSTOR 4094506. 
  10. ↑ Bergstrom, B.J., Farley, T., Hill, H.L., Jr., and Hon, T. (2000). Ecology and conservation of a frontier population of the roundtailed muskrat (Neofiber alleni). Occasional Papers of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences 12:74–82
  11. ↑ Hoogland, J. L. (1995). The black-tailed prairie dog: social life of a burrowing mammal. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois ISBN 0226351181

Sources

  • Musser, G. G. and M. D. Carleton. 2005. Superfamily Muroidea. pp. 894–1531 in Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
  • Round-tailed muskrat, Field Guide to the Rare Animals of Florida
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