Pennatomys

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Pennatomys
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Cricetidae
Subfamily: Sigmodontinae
Genus: †Pennatomys
Turvey, Weksler, Morris, and Nokkert, 2010
Species:
†P. nivalis
Binomial name
†Pennatomys nivalis
Turvey, Weksler, Morris, and Nokkert, 2010
Map of the northern Lesser Antilles indicating the three islands where Pennatomys has been found

Pennatomys nivalis is an extinct

tribe
Oryzomyini that includes many other island-dwelling species.

Pennatomys nivalis was a medium-sized rodent without many distinctive adaptations. The

mesolophs
. The upper molars all had three roots.

Taxonomy

generic name, Pennatomys, combines the Latin pennatus, "winged", with -mys, "mouse", a standard element in the names of rodent genera, and honors archeologist Elizabeth Wing.[5] The specific name, nivalis, is Latin for "snowy" and refers to Nevis. This island's name derives from the Spanish Nuestra Señora de las Nieves ("Our Lady of the Snows"), a reference to the clouds (mistaken for snow) that surround the island's central peak.[6]

endemic Lesser Antillean radiation within clade D, and also showed that the different island populations showed a high degree of genetic differentiation from each other.[12]

Description

A medium-sized oryzomyine,

synapomorphic (shared-derived) characters of the Nectomys subclade.[16]

The maxillary toothrows are parallel to each other. The molars are

brachyodont (low-crowned) and have the inter-cusp valleys on the labial (outer) sides closed by a cingulum (shelf). The valleys on the labial and lingual (inner) sides of the molars meet at the midlines.[6] Each of the upper molars has three roots[17] – unlike in most of the closest relatives of Pennatomys, there is no additional labial root on M1.[16] The m1 has four roots, two large roots at the front and back and two smaller ones in the middle. There are three roots under m2, two at the front and one at the back, and two under m3, at the front and back.[17] Upper toothrow length ranges from 5.6 to 6.7 mm (0.22 to 0.26 in) and lower toothrow length is 5.9 to 7.4 mm (0.23 to 0.29 in).[18]

On M1, the

hypocone).[5] The absence or near-absence of the posteroloph is a distinctive trait that differentiates Pennatomys from related oryzomyines.[16]

The

metaconid (the cusp on the front lingual corner of the tooth).[13]

Range and history

Remains of Pennatomys nivalis come from several Amerindian archeological sites on each of the three islands where it has been found; it was eaten by the native Amerindian population.

BCE. The youngest, Sulphur Ghaut (900–1200 CE), is also on Nevis and is from the post-Saladoid period. Other sites on Nevis include Hickman's (Saladoid, 100 BCE to 600 CE), Indian Castle (post-Saladoid, 650–880 CE), and Coconut Walk (post-Saladoid, no absolute dates known). The only site on Sint Eustatius is the Saladoid and post-Saladoid site Golden Rock (80 BCE to 980 CE). Each of the three sites yielding Pennatomys on Saint Kitts is from the post-Saladoid period: Sugar Factory (700–1000 CE), Bloody Point (660–1115 CE), and Cayon (undated).[4]

Unambiguous historical records of Pennatomys are lacking, but there are some references to Saint Kitts and Nevis rodents that may relate to it.

agoutis (Dasyprocta) that have been introduced throughout the Lesser Antilles.[21] There are references from 1631 and 1720 to people eating rats on Saint Kitts and Nevis, respectively, but these may well have been introduced black rats (Rattus rattus), not Pennatomys. There are anecdotal records of unusual rats on Nevis up to recent times; these were reportedly eaten by the Islanders until the 1930s.[22] Surveys on Nevis in 2009 found no evidence for the survival of Pennatomys.[1] The extinction of the Antillean rice rats, including Pennatomys, may have resulted from the introduction of exotic animals such as the black rat and the small Asian mongoose (Urva auropunctata) to the Lesser Antilles.[23]

There are no known morphological differences between the three island populations, but Turvey and colleagues found that animals from Nevis were slightly smaller than those from the two other islands. Such a difference in size might be related to the fact that Saint Kitts is larger than Nevis, in accordance with the trend that animals become larger on larger islands. However, Turvey and colleagues also observed that their Saint Kitts material consisted of older individuals than those from Nevis; thus, the size difference may result from differences in the mode of exploitation by Amerindians.[8]

Notes

  1. ^ "Con(e)y" is an archaic word for "rabbit" which may also refer to other small mammals, like hyraxes, pikas, and guinea pigs.[20]

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-2.RLTS.T199838A9129524.en
    .
  2. ^ Turvey et al., 2010, pp. 748–750
  3. ^ Branch, 1907, p. 332
  4. ^ a b Turvey et al., 2010, p. 750
  5. ^ a b c d Turvey et al., 2010, p. 758
  6. ^ a b c d Turvey et al., 2010, p. 761
  7. ^ Turvey et al., 2010, p. 765
  8. ^ a b Turvey et al., 2010, p. 763
  9. ^ Turvey et al., 2010, p. 766
  10. ^ Weksler, 2006, pp. 1, 10; Weksler et al., 2006, p. 1, table 1
  11. ^ Musser and Carleton, 2005, passim
  12. ^ Brace et al., 2015, n.p.
  13. ^ a b Turvey et al., 2010, table 2
  14. ^ Turvey et al., 2010
  15. ^ a b Turvey et al., 2010, p. 759
  16. ^ a b c d e Turvey et al., 2010, p. 760
  17. ^ a b Turvey et al., 2010, p. 762
  18. ^ Turvey et al., 2010, table 3
  19. ^ Turvey et al., 2010
  20. ^ coney | coney, n. Oxford English Dictionary. Downloaded January 3, 2011.
  21. ^ Turvey et al., 2010, pp. 763–764
  22. ^ Turvey et al., 2010, p. 764
  23. ^ Turvey et al., 2010, p. 767

Literature cited

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