Aquatic rat
species of mammal
The aquatic rat, Ecuador fish-eating rat, fish-eating rat or Ecuadoran ichthyomyine (Anotomys leander) is a South American species of semiaquatic rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is the only species in the genus Anotomys. This species is currently considered endangered. It is thought to be nocturnal and feeds on aquatic arthropods and insects. It is found in small ranges along the Andes.
Taxonomy
Anotomys leander is the only member of its genus, which belongs the tribe Ichthyomyini, subfamily Sigmodontinae and family Cricetidae. The ichthyomyines are semiaquatic carnivorous rodents that are found in the Americas from Mexico to Peru.
Habitat
A. leander has a very small range, the smallest range of the ichthyomyines. Very few specimens have been captured so the full extent of its habitat and range is not completely known; the range is estimated at 40 km2 (15 mi2). The species is found in northern Ecuador along the Andes mountains; however, it has also been found at a single locality in Colombia.
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This entry incorporates text from “Aquatic rat” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.