The Jaliscan cotton rat or Mexican cotton rat (Sigmodon mascotensis) is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is found only in Mexico. They commonly have brown fur with white fur on the belly.[2] They are ground-dwelling and prefer open habitats.[3]
| Jaliscan cotton rat | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Cricetidae |
| Subfamily: | Sigmodontinae |
| Genus: | Sigmodon |
| Species: | S. mascotensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Sigmodon mascotensis J. A. Allen, 1897 | |
Distribution and habitat
The Mexican cotton rat is endemic to Mexico and is distributed along the western coast of the country.[1] This area is located in the tropical deciduous forest biome, and the Mexican cotton rat prefers to reside in the open, grassy areas with dense areas of ground-level vegetation and little to no trees.[3] However, these rats will occupy a variety of habitats when their populations grow in size.[3] The Mexican cotton rat coexists cooperatively with other similar rodents in the ecosystem.[3]
Phylogeny
The Mexican cotton rat belongs to the family Cricetidae in the order Rodentia.[4] While it used to be considered a subspecies of Sigmodon hispidus (Hispid cotton rat), the Mexican cotton rat was designated as its own species after an ancestral karyotype study.[4] The Mexican cotton rat and the Hispid cotton rat can be distinguished chromosomally as well as by different skull characteristics.[2]
Hantavirus
Hantavirus is spread to humans through exposure to rodent fecal matter or by rodent bites and can become fatal.[5] Different species of rodents can carry different strains of hantavirus.[5] The Mexican cotton rat has been found to be one of the more prevalent carriers of hantavirus due its high amount of hantaviral antibodies.[5] The hantavirus that the Mexican cotton rat carries is a unique genotype of this virus, which is also carried by Oryzomys couesi (Coues's rice rat).[5]
References
- 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.